Becker's Spine Review

39 OUTPATIENT SURGERY NueHealth, Rothman Institute, Jefferson Health joint venture plans to reopen ASC, double case volume to 4K — 6 highlights By Angie Stewart N ueHealth partnered with Rothman Institute, Jefferson Health and 14 multi- specialty physicians to acquire the Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Blue Bell Surgery Center. Rothman Institute and Jefferson Health are based in Philadelphia. NueHealth is based in Leawood, Kansas. Here are six highlights: 1. The ambulatory surgery center is scheduled to reopen as Jefferson Surgery Cen- ter – Blue Bell in the third quarter of 2018. 2. NueHealth will take over the ASC's day-to-day management, and the new tenant became responsible for facility lease payments May 1. 3. The surgery center is expected to double its case volume to 4,000 patients a year under NueHealth's management. 4. NueHealth plans to fully utilize the center's four operating rooms. The space will be expanded to add clinical facilities and more physicians will be brought onboard. 5. The ASC was founded 10 years ago by a group of independent physicians. A third-party health system operator owned and managed the facility for the past five years. 6. Orthopedic surgeon Timothy Amann, DO, Blue Bell Surgery Center's medical di- rector and one of its original founders, will be involved in the revitalization. n 3 ASCs, Cigna settle alleged ERISA violation suit By Laura Dyrda C igna settled a lawsuit accusing three centers of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to Law 360. Connecticut General Life Insurance and Cigna Health and Life Insurance filed the suit against three surgery centers, alleging Cigna overpaid the am- bulatory surgery centers around $8 million. The ASCs allegedly waived patient payments for out-of-network bills but continued to bill the insurance company. In April, the Texas-based ASCs filed a motion for the partial summary judgment, alleging no support for Cigna's claims after more than a year. The motion stated: "Cigna's plan interpretation is legally incorrect and cannot be enforced under ERISA 502(a)(3)," according to an SE Texas Record report. The motion also argued Cigna's overpayment provision has "inscrutable lan- guage" and highlighted different court opinions on whether overpayment pre- vision "facially creates an equitable lien by argument."n GNS Surgery Center installs robot for spine surgery — Among 1st ASC of many? By Laura Dyrda A thens, Ga.-based GNS Surgery Center, a United Surgical Partners International affiliate, installed the Mazor Robotics Renaissance system and completed the first procedure. "e clinical value proposition of Mazor's robotic guidance systems gave us the confi- dence to make the jump and adopt this ex- citing technology for our patients," said Bry- an Barnes, MD. "And we are very pleased with the clinical result and the integration of Renaissance into our spine program." GNS is the first ASC in Georgia to offer the Renaissance system, but Mazor sees many more ASCs installing the technology in the future. During the company's 2017 earnings conference call, CEO Ori Hadomi said it would target ASCs for the legacy Renais- sance robotic technology for spine surgery. "Our primary focus for the Renaissance is the ambulatory surgery center, or ASCs, a market segment that we believe will take advantage of the system's value pricing," he said. Mazor aims to continue developing its new technology with Medtronic, Mazor X, and marketing it to hospitals. "In the U.S., we believe there are approxi- mately 1,000 ASCs that would benefit from using the Renaissance system," Mr. Hadomi said. "At the same time, we don't believe this will cannibalize any Mazor X system sales due to the case volume and system costs." e Renaissance technology is designed to provide more precise screw placement for minimally invasive procedures. GNS is a 2-OR ASC focused on neurosurgery and pain management. n

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