Subscriber Content ASC executives to meet with lawmakers
The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) annually asks members to participate in a “fly-in” to meet with members of Congress to raise awareness about the implications of health care policies. As ASCA vice president of government relations Steve Miller notes, there is nothing like hearing directly from a constituent to…
Subscriber Content New CMS guidelines suggest changes in advance directive policies
Ambulatory surgery patients who become incapacitated should have their wishes for care honored, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stresses in its new guidelines. Previously, the guidelines permitted an ambulatory surgery center (ASC), for reasons of conscience or policy, to refuse to honor advance directives calling for cessation…
Subscriber Content 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…
Subscriber Content Risk assessment helps prevent falls in ACS patients
Anyone undergoing surgery is at heightened risk of falling, especially during recovery from sedation, and for the most vulnerable patients, a fall can be disabling or even deadly. Falls are among the adverse events monitored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state surveyors. The science of assessing…
Subscriber Content Minnesota's adverse event reporting system has led to patient safety improvements
The number of patient falls, wrong-site procedures, and suicides increased slightly in Minnesota during 2012, but pressure ulcers, medication errors, and objects left in patients decreased, according to a recent study of the state’s hospitals and surgery centers. The “Adverse Health Events in Minnesota 2012 Public Report,” released in January…
Subscriber Content Escorts essential for ensuring postop patient safety
Before any elective surgery, patients are expected to arrange for an escort who will take responsibility for them at discharge—someone who will drive them home and possibly care for them as they recover from the effects of anesthesia. Despite a strict policy that patients must have a “responsible adult escort,”…
Subscriber Content 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…
Subscriber Content Faster procedures benefit patients and bottom line
Shortening the time it takes for an outpatient procedure may increase volume, OR utilization, and hence revenue—but that is not the point, say the nation’s top performers in a recent survey of procedure times. Rather, the purpose is to enhance patient safety and satisfaction. For example, less time in the…
Subscriber Content ASCs jump on the surgical checklist bandwagon
Since the early days of aviation, pilots have used checklists before, during, and after each flight. Cooks follow recipes. Builders don’t build without team meetings and signoffs at every step. Health care professionals, however, only recently began to adopt checklists. Often, the excuse has been that medicine is an art,…
Subscriber Content ASC award winners share quality improvements
Surgical infection rates are dropping to zero, mammography results now arrive in minutes rather than weeks, and patient satisfaction surveys actually reflect patients’ interpretations of their experiences. This new world has arrived in some innovative locations, and it is poised to spread. The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC)…
- AHA study: HOPD Medicare patients are poorer, sicker, more rural than those seen in physician offices
- Survey: Perioperative leaders adapt to supply strain, staffing pressure, ASC growth
- Endoscopy case highlights risks of complex patients in ASCs
- Robotics and AI are redefining precision in cataract surgery
- CMS plan to phase out inpatient only list sparks debate over safety for vulnerable patients
- Surgical robotics market accelerates as new players challenge industry giants
- Nurse leaders weigh in on NCLEX pass rate decline, impact on workforce readiness
- CMS’s plan to phase out inpatient-only list could bolster rural ASCs
- AAAHC unveils v44 standards to sharpen focus on patient-centered ambulatory care
- Medicare Advantage patients see lower perioperative costs than traditional Medicare peers