The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare industry could fill an entire academic curriculum at this point, let alone a single article. But one potential silver lining among the storms of bad news is the increasing migration of elective procedures from hospitals to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Although…
Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are ramping up cardiovascular and peripheral vascular service lines, as Medicare offers payment for a growing number of cardiac procedures and accrediting bodies offer support for this methodology. In 2021, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reported that the number of ASCs billing Medicare for cardiology procedures…
Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) announced on March 8 that it had joined with 14 leading medical specialty organizations to establish seven guiding principles to address the treatment of acute perioperative pain in complex surgical patients. The new principles were developed during a second landmark pain summit…
Editor's Note New findings from the University of Michigan's "National Poll on Healthy Aging" show that while most adults between the ages of 50 and 80 express concerns when opting to have elective surgery, 2 in 3 are “very satisfied with the outcome” post-procedure, according to a March 9 American…
Editor's Note According to the 2022 Key ASC Benchmarks and Industry Figures report published by Avanza Healthcare Strategies, an ASC consulting firm, cardiology is the fastest growing ASC specialty, Becker’s ASC Review March 10 reports. The Avanza report was released on March 8 and is a “compilation of recently [as…
Editor's Note In this study, researchers report the 2-year outcomes for patients enrolled in the Evolut Low Risk Trial (Medtronic Evolut Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Low Risk Patients), which show that transcather aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with a supra-annular, self-expanding valve is noninferior to surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR).…
Editor's Note This multi-center, randomized, clinical trial that compares on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with off-pump CABG finds no advantage for off-pump CABG. A total of 2,203 veterans were randomly assigned to off-pump (1,104) or on-pump (1,099) CABG procedures at 18 VA medical centers, and the veterans were then…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on February 9 that it will add requirements and expand the review process to 2-days for Primary Stroke Centers (PSCs) that provide mechanical thrombectomy (MT) and are seeking advanced certification or recertification, effective July 1, 2022. The additional tracer time and requirements will help…
Editor's Note According to the February 2 Becker’s ASC Review, two ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) recently filed lawsuits against insurance payers over reimbursement, or lack thereof, for spinal procedures. Surgery Center of Viera, based in Melbourne, Florida, filed its lawsuit January 20 against Cigna and consulting services Strategic Enterprise Solutions…
Editor's Note This multicenter study by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that COVID-19 patients have a significantly high risk for postoperative complications, particularly elderly males. Of 1,581 patients analyzed, more than half were males over 50 years of age, and most procedures (1,261,…