ASCs must prepare to meet latest CMS infection control expectations
A perennial concern associated with surgery is avoidance of infection. As science reveals new risks and remedies, protocols change and so do regulations. To monitor infection control at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), surveyors use a 15-page worksheet from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The ASC Infection Control…
CMS proposes modifying ASC rule requiring staff radiology services
Many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have little need for a staff radiologist because only a few procedures require on-site imaging. Yet, ASCs are subject to a rule similar to those that require hospitals to keep radiologists on staff. That will no longer be true if a proposed change takes effect…
2013 IPPS rule advances Medicare quality programs
Medicare’s inpatient prospective payment rule for fiscal year 2013 updates payment rates and adds to quality initiatives like value-based purchasing (VBP) and quality reporting. The rule issued August 1, 2012, takes effect October 1, 2012. Here are the highlights. Payment rates Inpatient payment rates will increase by 2.8% for…
Medicare rules allow broader use of nonphysicians
Hospitals now have the flexibility under federal law to include practitioners other than physicians on their medical staffs. That’s one provision of Medicare’s revised Conditions of Participation (COP) for hospitals and critical access hospitals, which take effect July 16, 2012. The revision is the first major overhaul of the COPs…
CMS expert offers advice on ASC quality reporting
With the early issuance of quality reporting codes for Medicare, both ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have a chance to develop expertise in their use and to resolve any technical problems before the mandatory start date of October 1, 2012. And that…
Practice now applying the new ASC quality codes
While the deadline for beginning to report quality measures on Medicare claim forms is not until October 1, 2012, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) can start practicing. On April 1, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a set of reporting codes for the first 5 measures. The…
HHS: A draft for closer scrutiny of HAIs in ASCs
Infection control is in the spotlight again, as ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) examine a draft Health and Human Services (HHS) document calling for closer scrutiny of precautions in outpatient settings. The agency released a draft of Phase 2 of its National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) on April…
Is your ASC ready for closer scrutiny on sharps safety?
For a variety of reasons, survey inspectors this year are looking more closely at ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and other outpatient facilities for evidence of compliance with sharps-safety guidelines. Bloodborne pathogens, of course, have been a concern since awareness of HIV and hepatitis C emerged. Physicians and nurses have long…
What's expected for use of safe surgery checklist?
Starting now, in January 2012, ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and hospital outpatient departments need to be using a safe surgery checklist and keep using it through all of the calendar year. That’s one quality measure in Medicare’s new ASC quality reporting program set forth in the 2012 outpatient payment rule…
CMS demo: One payment to hospital, MDs
Medicare is starting an experiment that will give hospitals and physicians a single bundled payment for some inpatient cardiac and orthopedic surgery, including total joint replacement. The Acute Care Episode (ACE) demonstration project will be conducted in up to 15 markets in 4 states: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado.…
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