Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1013711
13 The EHR for GI Section THE EHR FOR GI SECTION 13 ers bundled surgical pricing through direct contracts. It's not currently a huge volume of what we do, but we anticipate growth. More and more it is the individual, or the self funded business that is paying for care. ey are both looking for ways to save money while receiving the best care possible. Posting or pricing, and quality metrics, will continue to increase. As mentioned previously, our partner- ship with the hospitals that have high-cost structures and less efficient operations make us attractive. But you have to have the right circumstances to develop a beneficial partnership. As health systems become more strategic about the site of services and increase their risk-based contracts, they will need to have lower-cost centers available. Obviously, joints and spine offer a huge op- portunity for ASC's, and that's what our cen- ter is focused on as well. For us, we've got a relationship with a spine group and certainly as you see more procedures pushed out of the hospital, we anticipate additional spine cases coming our way. We are still in the planning phases for total joints right now. We also see the increased demand for both price and quality transparency as a source of growth opportunity. Patients with high de- ductibles and companies funding plans will want to know there their health care dollars go, and I believe will be more savvy shoppers for care. Our goal is to make it easy for those patients to find us and have the best service offerings available for them. n How an Oregon-based ASC combats decreasing case volume K ecia Norling, RN, is administrator of Portland, Ore.-based Northwest Am- bulatory Surgery Center. She will give a presentation titled "How Leadership and Culture Affect Patient Safety" at the Becker's ASC Review 25th Annual Meeting in Chicago, Oct. 18-20. Here, Ms. Norling discusses pa- tient volume trends at her center and how she continues to inspire growth. Our center's most significant current chal- lenge is a decrease in case volume. is decrease is caused by the retirement or slowing down of high volume founders and a replacement of these pivotal surgeons with partners who cherish and practice a work/life balance. In addition, our hospital partner prevents their employed surgeons from utilizing the surgery center. Finally, a market with several large insurance/hospital providers which steer patients to their own facilities decreases the potential case volume for our center. We've addressed the decrease in case volume with an increase in high complexity cases such as total joint replacements. is focus on total joints and other complex cases, such as parathyroid removal with rapid PTH assay testing, and post-mastectomy reconstruc- tion has kept our net revenue at near historic numbers despite a loss in case volume. Outpatient total joint replacements remain a huge opportunity for ASC growth. Surgery centers which create a consistent, proven process for performing these procedures, and who provide an exceptional experience for the patient and their family will place their centers in a position to benefit as this population of patients increases in volume. e opportunity to provide a high-quality, boutique experience at a decreased price for the patient and insurance company is excit- ing and something to be proud about. n See these exciting speakers and more at Becker's ASC Review 25th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs October 18-20, 2018 | Swissotel, Chicago 100+ Sessions featuring a Special AEU Credit Track 175 Speakers, including 150 Physicians, Directors of Nursing, Administrators, Owners and CEOs directly from Surgery Centers To learn more & register, visit: www.beckersasc.com/annual-ambulatory-surgery-centers-conference/ or email jcole@beckershealthcare.com or sbecker@beckershealthcare.com