Deborah Comerford is the founder and president of Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Services (ASCQS). With her broad, deep knowledge of the health care industry and passion for superlative service delivery and patient care, Deborah has more than 20 years’ experience as a clinical operations executive with responsibility for all ambulatory surgery center operations and management and the ability to work with and manage multiple centers and sites simultaneously.
An RN with her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, Deborah holds numerous certifications including CNOR. CNOR certification is defined as: "the documented validation of the professional achievement of identified standards of practice by an individual registered nurse providing care for patients before, during and after surgery." CNOR means that you have demonstrated the knowledge and skills that denote competency in the specialized field of perioperative nursing;. She is also a Health Care Risk Manager (HRM). Collectively, these certifications position her well to help ASC’s provide the highest quality of service delivery and pursue measurable and improved outcomes in postsurgical patient care.
Over the course of Deborah’s 20+ years career in ambulatory surgery, she opened or supervised 14 de novo ASC’s in multiple states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas. In this role, she exhibited a thorough knowledge of the regulatory requirements unique to each of these states and managed all clinical and operational aspects of center development from blueprint to Medicare accreditation certification. Ultimately, she managed the day-to-day operations of these centers as she has overseen the operations in established ASC’s.
Currently, Deborah maintains Medicare chair and Medicare solo privileges as an active surveyor/ CMS surveyor for the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC).
The preparation of centers for initial accreditation, the development of Quality Assurance programs, the implementation of Peer Review programs, life safety services management, AAAHC application and prep, license applications, and CMS-855B preparation are among her areas of expertise, and remain part of her functional responsibilities today.
Deborah’s strong belief in the need for patient safety and the delivery of exceptional care has made her a sought-after leader by ASC’s that require assistance in clinical operations.
She has spoken at several ASC conferences and shared her passion and insight with conference participants.
Deborah is a graduate of Rutgers University College of Nursing.
