With fewer new ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) forming each year and more merging back into hospitals, it has become popular to describe the industry as “mature.” It’s not yet time for an obituary, however. Improved technology, bolstered by healthcare reform, is driving a transition to outpatient treatment, and, when it…

The primary function of an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) is simple and easily described: to perform surgery for which patients can be discharged within 24 hours, to do this efficiently, safely, and cost effectively, and to collect adequate, timely payment. The path to achieving these results is not so simple.…

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is affecting every part of the healthcare system, including ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Whether it will help or hinder ASCs, however, will depend on how adept they are at managing changes in the way they are paid and how they interact with…

Innovations in surgical techniques, anesthesia, and equipment, along with the drive to decrease healthcare costs, are increasing the number of patients and procedures deemed suitable for outpatient surgery. Among the elective procedures now being performed at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are total joint replacements. The buzz at recent conferences has…

Nearly a month past the statutory November 1, 2013 deadline, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final 2014 hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment rule, CMS-1601-FC. CMS published the rule in the December 10, 2013 Federal Register. The deadline for comments is January 27,…

Group purchasing has long been a tradition for hospitals. Now ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are beginning to adopt the practice, and the reason is simple: Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are noticing their needs and recruiting them as members. “We are evolving services,” explains Randy Piper, vice president of nonacute contracting…

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider the next round of quality measures contained in the Calendar Year 2014 Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Proposed Rule and to revisit the payment update formula.   Quality Collaboration: Revise measures In a memorandum to…

A new publication by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) zeros in on the role of outpatient care facilities in responding to disasters—specifically, how they can prevent infection in their patients, staff, and the community at large. The guide, “Infection Prevention for Ambulatory Care Centers During…

Surgical volume is stable or increasing in nearly two-thirds of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), according to the 23rd annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. More than two-thirds (68%) of survey respondents also report that their ASCs have not experienced financial difficulties as a result of current economic conditions. These results may…

About 70% of respondents to a nationwide survey of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) say they are trying to cut costs in reaction to changes brought about by healthcare reform. That’s the major finding of a nationwide survey of 359 administrators, directors, and office managers in ASCs, cancer centers, home health…