Yorkville Endoscopy to Lose Medicare Coverage on Jan. 31

Yorkville Endoscopy has failed to make critical improvements in time to keep its Medicare coverage. The surgery center–which has been under heavy scrutiny since Joan Rivers went into cardiac arrest on Aug. 28 while undergoing a routine endoscopy there–will no longer receive federal funds to provide services to Medicare and Medicaid patients beginning Jan. 31.

Among the many problems cited by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the facility’s failure to “ensure that post-anesthesia evaluations for all patients are completed and documented by the anesthesiologist before patients are discharged.” CMS also noted that the surgery center has inadequate fire protection and alarm systems as well as improper storage of oxygen tank supplies. 

CMS had given Yorkville Endoscopy until Jan. 7 to make improvements. Despite creating a correction plan last month to address their deficiencies, the New York center was not able to show enough actual progress to meet CMS’s criteria.

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