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Thought Leadership
Where a Kansas ASC plans to invest for future growth:
Q&A with Director Sonja Clapp
By Laura Dyrda
S
onja Clapp, director of AdventHealth Surgery Center Shawnee
Mission in Lenexa, Kan., discussed the biggest investments her
center will make over the next few years.
Note: Responses were edited for style and clarity.
Question: Where do you see the best opportunity for your
center's strategic growth? What areas are you investing in
today?
Sonja Clapp: I am working on ENT at the moment, along with
orthopedic. Some of the ENT cases have high disposable costs, which
increases my cost per case. However, it has also increased my revenue
per case.
Q: How do you see your center evolving in the future?
SC: We do a large number of ophthalmology procedures. I would like
to see a separate area for these cases so we can become more efficient
with room turnover. I believe we could double volumes. We should also
be evolving to the total joints, as these are moving toward outpatient
throughout the country.
Finally, we are currently all on paper for our patient records. We need
to go to an EMR. is would greatly increase our efficiency in reports
and tracking operating room block time, as well as surgeons' efficiency
and accuracy of scheduling.
Q: What procedures or specialties do you see moving to
the outpatient space over the next two years?
SC: I am watching the vascular procedures. Some of the cardiac proce-
dure codes are moving outpatient, including pacemakers, carotids and
cardiac catheters.
Total joints are already outpatient, but not in this area. I have been
asking this question here for a couple of years and would like to see
progress in this area.
Q: What challenges do you anticipate for the outpatient
landscape in the future?
SC: Our area does not require a certificate of need. ere are many
surgery centers in our area. I see it becoming survival of the fittest. We
will need to continue to look for opportunities to hold onto our market
share and draw in new providers. We currently are a multispecialty
facility and are already very successful. We monitor the age of our
surgeons to ensure we have new, young surgeons coming in as the older
ones begin to retire. It is definitely about having newer technology to
draw in younger surgeons with new ideas. I have found that my cost
per case may increase, but so does my revenue per case. n
Simplify ASC's Marta Shultz on the key ways ASCs can improve quality
By Rachel Popa
A
SCs can improve quality in
three key ways, according to
Marta Shultz, vice president
of quality for Simplify ASC.
Note: Responses were edited for
style and clarity.
Question: For ASCs looking to im-
prove quality, where would you
recommend they start?
Marta Schultz: I like to see people
assess their current practices first. If you send satisfaction
surveys, are you getting any negative feedback? Can you
compare any of the data you collect to national benchmarks
to see where you have a slight (or large) deficit? What have
been your last 10 incidents reported? Many times, people
try to go after what's hitting the news versus knowing or
identifying their own areas for improvement.
Q: Can you touch on the changing landscape of ASC
quality reporting? How did the industry get to this
point, and where does it go from here?
MS: This is a big one. ASC quality reporting has lagged
on the CMS front behind hospital reporting requirements.
However, CMS is working to integrate the hospital outpa-
tient standards and ASC reporting standards. Sometimes
this is a good fit; sometimes it requires jamming a round
peg into an oval hole. The main takeaway? This is not going
away. As more extensive and expensive procedures move
into ASCs, the focus on quality of procedures for CMS and
as a competitive edge is going to increase.
Q: What would you say are the financial implications as-
sociated with ASC quality measures?
MS: There are studies that show the dramatic increase to
costs with infections and complications or adverse events.
I don't know that anyone has really looked at the cost to
reputation and to scheduling when there is an adverse
event or infection. In these days of social media, having an
adverse event can hit the bottom line quickly without ever
having a "published" verdict. There is also the flip side for
facility cost to gather information and report for ASC quality
measures. It's so important that data be gathered at point of
contact in order to save that time and also be available to
manage any adverse events. n
