Becker's ASC Review

13 ASC MANAGEMENT Court upholds dismissal of California surgery center suit against UnitedHealthcare By Angie Stewart A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of Glendale Outpatient Surgery Center's lawsuit against United HealthCare Services and United- Healthcare Insurance Co. GOSC sued UnitedHealthcare under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, alleging that the insurer underpaid for patient care on 44 occasions. A U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida dismissed the suit without prejudice for failure to state a claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that dismissal May 19, determining that GOSC's "general- ized allegations" and "vague references to anonymous patients" did not show UnitedHealthcare was liable for the ERISA patients' medical coverage. n Practices report average revenue drop of 55% due to COVID-19 — 5 insights By Angie Stewart T he financial fallout from COVID-19 is "widespread," according to Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report 2020." "Specialties that relied upon elective procedures have lost much or most of their business," the report said. "Those include, but are not limited to, orthopedics, plastic surgery, dermatology, cardiology and ophthalmology." Medscape surveyed 17,461 U.S. physicians across 30-plus specialties from Oct. 4, 2019, to Feb. 10. Five takeaways: 1. On average, practices have lost 55 percent of revenue since the COVID-19 crisis emerged. 2. Patient volumes have dropped an average of 60 percent. 3. In March, about 43,000 healthcare workers were laid off. 4. Practice closures, including temporary ones, were re- ported by 9 percent of independent medical groups. 5. Providers' remote patient engagement was up 225 percent. n ASC industry leaders on agility, safety as surgeries resume — 3 key quotes By Angie Stewart A SCs must move quickly and safely when chipping away at large back- logs of elective procedures, accord- ing to industry group leaders who spoke to ASC Focus. ree key quotes on how elective surgeries are resuming in their respective states: Chris Skagen. Executive director of the Colorado Ambulatory Surgery Center Association and the Oregon Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. "is has been a long and challenging road, and it appears that we may be facing continued regulations that change frequently going forward. ASCs will have to have resiliency and mobility. "I have heard of a facility that has 2,000 cases in backlog and 150 are being added every day. at shows a substantial need for resuming cases. Once we get over the initial hump of the backlog, we may see a lower volume of referrals coming from physicians. All systems will have to ramp up as we see restrictions being eased up." Tammy Burnett. President of the Mis- sissippi Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. "Other than screening visitors and wearing masks at all times, much of [the reopening protocols] are already covered in what we do. e testing is confusing for many and not especially helpful. ankfully, we do not expect to do a lot of testing if we are properly screening and our surgeons are diligent in their clinical evaluations." Cindy Bishop. Executive director of the Louisiana Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. "[State guidelines] want us to evaluate all patients with a screen- ing instrument or test, if available; have at least five days of personal protective equipment in store; have an area hospi- tal with ICU capacity in case we need to transfer; perform cases that are time- sensitive; ensure that we have adequate staff, including surgical, support, recovery and nursing; follow up with patients in 10 to 14 days regarding COVID-19 symp- toms; follow CMS guidelines that came out on April 19; and continue to postpone any procedure in which a delay would not adversely affect the patient." n

• Cover