Becker's ASC Review

38 GASTROENTEROLOGY 4 private equity GI deals announced this year By Eric Oliver There were four private equity deals in gastroen- terology in the first five months of 2020. January: Miami-based Gastro Health acquired Gastroenterology Associates of Osceola in Kis- simmee, Fla.; Digestive Care in Boca Raton, Fla.; and Associates in Gastroenterology in Wood- bridge, Va. March: Dallas-based GI Alliance acquired Gas- troenterology Consultants of San Antonio. April: Private equity firm Webster Equity Part- ners established One GI, through a partnership with Memphis, Tenn.-based Gastro One. May: Exton, Pa.-based US Digestive Health expanded its presence in Pennsylvania by partnering with Carlisle (Pa.) Digestive Disease Associates. n Gastroenterology reports 2nd largest revenue, utilization drops of any specialty By Angie Stewart O ral surgeons took the biggest financial hit from COVID-19 as of April, followed by gastroenterologists, according to Fair Health's 2020 "Healthcare Professionals and the Impact of COVID-19" report. What you should know: 1. Gastroenterology had the second-largest decreases in March and April utilization and revenue based on total estimated al- lowed amounts. 2. Gastroenterology utilization fell 73 percent from March 2019- 20 and revenue fell 75 percent based on total estimated allowed amounts. 3. Also compared to March 2019, gastroenterology's utilization was down 77 percent in April, and revenue based on total esti- mated allowed amounts was down 80 percent. n 'We do not have much room for growth': A GI center's plans for the next 12 months amid the pandemic By Laura Dyrda B obbi Freeman, RN, the gastroenterol- ogy endoscopy and GI lab manager of Harbin Clinic Endoscopy Center in Rome, Ga., outlines how her center is resuming operations during the pandemic and what it expects in the next year. Question: What is your plan for resuming elective procedures in the future? Bobbi Freeman: We resumed operations in mid-May. We are an endoscopy-only ASC and we are selecting procedures based on priority tiering as mandated and physician approval. We have expanded our provider block days to allow for more provider avail- ability. We started with scheduling patients 45 minutes apart rather than our usual 30 to allow for additional room turnover time and increased social distancing. We are screening all patients at time of scheduling with COVID-19 screening ques- tions, again at one week before, again the day before, and then again at arrival to the center. Patients are instructed to call the GI lab when they arrive and a nurse will advise them when to come to a special entrance for screening. All family members/drivers are to remain in the car. e patient is checked in aer screening and brought directly to the GI lab pre-/post-op room. All patients are given a surgical mask, all staff wear surgical masks (or N95 if in the procedure or repro- cessing rooms) and surgical caps. During the procedure and reprocessing all staff wear face shields as well. e patient rooms and restrooms are disinfected aer each use and the procedure rooms are terminally cleaned. We have removed all nonessential equipment and supplies from the procedure rooms as well. Q: How has the pandemic affected your plan for growth in the next six to 12 months? BF: We are a very busy center running about as efficiently as we can. We do not have much room for growth. Our surgery center is at capacity for pre-/post-op and procedure rooms. e only thing we could do to grow would be to offer extended hours and weekend services. As of right now, we do not have an immediate plan for that. If the COVID-19 crisis continues or we have a resurgence, we may have to consider that option in an effort to remain open. Q: What does the "new normal" look like for ASCs? BF: We are trying very hard to get back to business as usual, but the unusual circum- stances of this pandemic are making that very difficult. As long as we do not have COVID-19-positive exposure or potential exposure, I feel like we will be able to con- tinue to keep our center open for urgent and semi-urgent endoscopic procedures. Hopefully we will be able to perform routine endoscopies by the late summer or fall. Of course, this is all subjective. A good anal- ogy that I have heard with relation to how healthcare workers are having to deal with this COVID-19 pandemic is like trying to change the tire on a bus that is driving down the road. I think that sums it up pretty ac- curately. n

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