Ambulatory Surgery

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US Senate passes Electronic Health Fairness Act

Editor's Note The US Senate on August 5 passed the Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2015 (S 1347), which was heavily promoted by the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. The legislation protects physicians practicing in ASCs from Medicare meaningful use penalties until a certified electronic health record technology is available for…

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By: OR Manager
August 7, 2015
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Joint Commission updates ASC accreditation survey guide

Editor's Note The Joint Commission has updated its “Ambulatory Care Accreditation Survey Activity Guide for Health Care Organizations,” and has made it available on the Joint Commission Connect extranet site. Among the updates: Survey document list: A new item has been added requesting identification of all locations where high-level disinfection…

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By: OR Manager
August 7, 2015
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CMS extends ASC quality measure deadline until September 30

Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has extended the deadline for submitting data for the Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program until September 30, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association reports.   This applies to the claims-based measures submitted via QualityNet and the Centers for Disease Control and…

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By: OR Manager
August 4, 2015
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Which procedures should be added to ASC Medicare list?

Editor's Note The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) is conducting a survey of its members to determine which procedures should be added to the list of ASC Medicare payable procedures for 2016. The information will help ASCA advocate for the expansion of the list of procedures the Centers for Medicare…

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By: OR Manager
July 30, 2015
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Potholes, speed bumps on road to quality reporting

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are moving forward with quality reporting, adding a series of new measures this year while continuing to build a national database of performance levels on earlier measures. Now that they have experience with reporting safe surgery checklist use (ASC 6) and volume of selected procedures (ASC…

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By: OR Manager
July 22, 2015
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Barriers to handoff communication in ASCs

Editor's Note Patient handoffs in ambulatory surgery centers are commonly interrupted by distractions that put patients at risk, and nearly 50% might be preventable, this study finds. Handoffs with communication distractions were rated lower in overall quality and associated with a greater number of errors (ie,  transfer of incorrect information).…

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By: OR Manager
July 20, 2015
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ASCA issues quality reporting alert for ASCs

Editor's Note The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association on July 7 posted a quality reporting alert that provides instructions on required reporting that all Medicare-certified ASCs must submit to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ASC Quality Reporting Program by August 15. ASCs must report on five measures (ASC-6 through…

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By: OR Manager
July 16, 2015
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CMS Issues Proposed Rule for Hospital Outpatient and ASC Payments

Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on July 1 issued a proposed rule for CY 2016 for the hospital outpatient prospective payment (OPPS) and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment systems. CMS proposes an OPPS decrease of .01%. The change is based on a projected hospital market basket increase…

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By: OR Manager
July 2, 2015
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AAAHC issues guidelines for obese patients

Screening heavier patients for ambulatory surgery just became a little easier, thanks to a new brochure from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) Institute for Quality Improvement, Skokie, Illinois. Titled “Ambulatory surgery and obesity in adults: Preventing complications,” the two-page toolkit draws on some 40 research articles outlining…

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By: OR Manager
June 16, 2015
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When patients call the plays, the whole team wins

Patients come first. That is the brief, yet insightful, first principle for the ambulatory surgery industry: Give patients a safe, cost-effective, convenient, and attractive place to have their elective surgery, and profits and career satisfaction will follow. Well, perhaps, but it is all too easy to become involved in regulations,…

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By: OR Manager
May 14, 2015
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