First in a series on quality improvement for ambulatory surgery centers. Ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) have a new source for benchmarking data. The national ASC Quality Collaboration is now posting quarterly data on 6 quality and safety measures (sidebar). The measures, which are in the public domain, were developed by…

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Is it time to stop performing colonoscopies and go full steam ahead with knee surgery? Maybe. According to the proposed Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule released July 1, 2009, colonoscopy reimbursement rates for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) will decline by 5.6% in 2010, compared with an increase of…

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Infection control in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) is under the microscope. The Department of Health and Human Services announced in July 2009 it is funding infection control surveys in more than 125 ASCs in 12 states by September 30, 2009. Additional funds were coming in October. Surveyors will be armed…

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Procedures requiring sterilized or high-level-disinfected instruments are performed daily in a variety of settings—hospitals, freestanding and hospital-affiliated ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), physicians' offices, clinics, endoscopy suites, and dental facilities. Accreditation surveyors are looking closely at reprocessing in these facilities. Medicare's new ASC interpretive guidelines for surveyors issued in May 2009…

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ASCs: A third feel the economic pinch Though many managers of ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) report their facilities are feeling the pinch from the economic downturn, salaries are stable or slightly higher than 2008, according to results of the 19th annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. Respondents to ASC survey Region…

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The federal government is funding infection control surveys in more than 125 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in 12 states by September 30, 2009, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced July 30, 2009. The surveys, funded by economic stimulus money, will be carried out in Maine, New Jersey,…

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In today's recessionary economy, capital equipment, like real estate, represents a buyer's market. For an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) contemplating new imaging or operating room equipment, believe it or not this is a great time to go shopping. "In my 42 years of medical equipment planning and procurement, there has…

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The economic downturn has checked in at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), although with less impact than in hospital OR suites. More than two-thirds (69%) of ASC respondents to the 19th annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey said the downturn had affected their staffing in the past 6 months, primarily through decreased…

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As if collecting payments from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers wasn't complex enough, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) face the added obstacle of being considered out-of-network by payers in many circumstances. Out-of-network typically means an ASC does not have a participation agreement with the payer or managed care organization or is…

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Ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) have been getting more attention from regulators and health policymakers over the past year, and not all of it has been welcome. From quality reporting legislation to Medicare payment issues, ASCs have been under review. That is due in part to efforts by hospitals to curtail…

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