Each day seems to bring new tasks for leaders of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), adding to their already overflowing plate. One task that can easily fall off that plate is collecting and analyzing metrics, yet failing to do so can have serious financial consequences. OR Manager recently asked ASC leaders…

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Every week Ann Shimek, MSN, BSN, RN, CASC, hits the road to communicate about communicating. Shimek is senior vice president of clinical operations at United Surgical Partners International (USPI) in Addison, Texas. She and her team of six clinical nurses travel among USPI’s 21 hospitals and 260 ambulatory surgery centers…

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Editor's Note Frailty was associated with postoperative morbidity in patients having ambulatory general surgery procedures, independent of age, type of anesthesia, and other comorbidities, this study finds. In this study of 140,828 patients older than 40 years of age, frailty was associated with increased adjusted odds of 30-day morbidity after…

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Editor's Note A risk-assessment system designed to avoid harm in private industry (ie, Socio-Technical Probabilistic Risk Assessment [ST-PRA]), was used by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded researchers to identify practices likely to pose infection risks in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The ST-PRA ranks failure points (events) according to…

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Despite the turmoil in healthcare, leaders of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are a highly satisfied group, with 83% having a favorable view of their current position, according to the OR Manager 2017 Salary/Career Survey. But ASC leaders are markedly less satisfied when it comes to their compensation, with 60% viewing…

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Responding to industry concerns, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a delay in the mandatory implementation of the patient experience of care satisfaction survey requirement known as the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Survey® (OAS CAHPS). CMS announced the proposed…

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Editor's Note Analysis by 360 Market Updates estimates that the lumbar spine fusion market will see a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% through 2021, the September 15 Becker’s Spine Review reports. A key driver of growth is the increasing popularity of physician-owned ambulatory surgery centers. DePuy Synthes, Medtronic, Stryker,…

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Editor's Notes The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will grant exceptions for quality reporting requirements for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) located in the path of Hurricane Harvey, the September 1 ASCA News reports. ASCs in affected counties and parishes in Texas and Louisiana will get exceptions without having…

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Hiring experienced staff remains a challenge for leaders in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) even as many organizations increase case volume and specialties, according to the 2017 annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents said that recruiting experienced RNs had become more difficult in the past 12…

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Editor's Note With the growth of ambulatory surgeries and the shift to Medicare reimbursement for outpatient hip and knee replacements, hospitals are acquiring and forming joint ventures with ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), the August 5 Modern Healthcare reports. This allows hospitals to keep part of the revenue and better aligns…

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