Surgical volume is up in nearly half (44%) of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), according to the 24th annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. To put this in perspective, consider that in 2009 only 19% of respondents said volume had increased and as recently as last year, only 25% reported an increase.…

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law, many ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders viewed it with optimism because it requires everyone to have health insurance unless they choose to pay a penalty. “We thought this would be a very positive thing because we would see an increase…

Staffing in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) is remarkably stable, although surgical volume is increasing in many centers and recruiting is becoming more difficult, according to the 24th annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. More than 70% of respondents said both the percentage and number of open RN and surgical technologist (ST)…

Leaders of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) can expect to continue facing challenges related to reimbursement even as they try to increase the kinds of procedures that can be performed in their facilities, say experts with the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). Other key factors that will determine their future success…

Surgeons perform about 600,000 hysterectomies per year in the US, but less than 1% of these take place in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Richard Rosenfield, MD, is trying to change that. Before he founded Pearl Surgi-Center in Portland, Oregon, Dr Rosenfield performed outpatient hysterectomies at several local hospitals as an…

If a fancy hotel can make its guests feel well cared for, why can’t a surgery center do the same? Spivey Station Surgery Center in Jonesboro, Georgia, discovered that using principles of hospitality could take it beyond excellent patient care to higher levels of patient satisfaction and staff morale.  …

Computers and computer-driven devices have transformed the way healthcare is delivered, and use of the technology has led to greater efficiency, error reduction, and the ability to perform some previously impossible procedures. However, it is not always easy to incorporate computer tools into traditional activities such as quality tracking and…

Nobody wants to come to work some morning and find a team of inspectors waiting. There is nothing like a surprise exam to make one nervous. Yet inspections are necessary—and not necessarily evil. Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) inspections are required for Medicare certification by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will delay implementation of the new quality reporting measure ASC-11, Cataracts: Improvement in Patient’s Visual Function within 90 Days Following Cataract Surgery, until January 1, 2015. CMS intends to issue proposals regarding data collection for this measure in the upcoming 2015 proposed…

Less than 2 years after the New England Baptist Outpatient Care Center was imagined, its doors opened in September 2013. The sparkling new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in the Boston suburb of Dedham, Massachusetts, isn’t far from the country’s oldest timber-framed house, the Fairbanks House, built in 1637—long before building…