Founded by clinicians. Built for safer care.

Why ISOBS Exists

Office-based surgery has grown exponentially over the past two decades — procedures once performed only in hospitals or accredited ambulatory surgery centers are now routinely done in physician offices. That shift brought real benefits for patients, but it also outpaced the safety infrastructure built for traditional surgical settings.

A series of highly publicized adverse outcomes, including preventable patient deaths, drew national attention to gaps in oversight, training, and emergency preparedness unique to the office setting. In 2009, a group of Boston-based clinicians decided the field needed a dedicated, independent advocate: one with the clinical expertise and national standing to close those gaps.

That advocate became the Institute for Safety in Office-Based Surgery: a collaborative of physicians, anesthesiologists, researchers, and policy experts working to make office-based surgery as safe as any hospital operating room.