Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1368676
40 Thought Leadership 6 ASC administrators weigh in on vendor relationships during the pandemic By Patsy Newitt F or some ASCs, vendor relationships improved during the pandemic through representative communication and pro- vision of alternatives to shortages. For others, factors like infrequent vendor availability have made supply acquisition more difficult. Here are six ASC administrator's different views on how vendor relationships have shied: Note: ese answers have been edited for brev- ity and clarity. Question: Is it easier or harder to work with supply and implant ven- dors than before the pandemic? Why? Georgia Kapshuck. Administrator at Carolina Bone & Joint Surgery Center (Myrtle Beach, S.C.): It is actually easier to work with vendors and representatives aer the pandemic. e representatives from the companies that we deal with have gone above and beyond to get us what we need. ey also give us other options to use in place of our regular items just so we can continue with surgeries. Representatives are always keeping us in mind as soon as they get the items we need and offering them to us as soon as possible. Andi Coniglio, RN. Administrator at Sum- mit Surgery Center at Saint Mary's Galena (Reno, Nev.): It's harder to work with supply and implant vendors aer the pandemic. Some vendors are not easily available or work- ing from home. Additionally, items are hard to get, especially personal protective equipment. Heather Bowers. Materials Manager of the Surgery Center of Pottsville (Pa.): I have found that vendors have gone above and beyond to find alternatives to the shortages we face. Also, vendors alert their customers more oen when hard-to-find items become available. ey have definitely been easier to work with. Mimi Bercan. Materials Management Coor- dinator of the Surgery Center of Southwest General (Middleburg Heights, Ohio): It's harder to work with vendors during the pan- demic. Because many vendors are working out of their homes, we've been put on hold a lot longer, connections have been bad and some- times dogs are barking. I have started to fax orders over rather than wait on hold. I have had to call vendor representatives for implants just about every week since stock is short. Becky Ziegler-Otis. Administrator of the Ambulatory Surgical Center of Stevens Point (Wis.): I would say it is harder to work with the vendors, but not because the vendors are being difficult, but rather due to the limitations being placed on them from the manufacturers. Our ma- terials manager has always had an excellent rap- port and relationship with our supply and implant vendors. is has always been beneficial to the center, and the pandemic further solidified these relationships. ere are constant communications between the materials manager and the vendors on shortages, costs and alternatives to pursue. Christopher McClellan, DO. Administrator of University Orthopedics Center (Altoona, Pa.): In my region, working with vendors has been about the same during the pandemic. ey've always been great to work with. I would encourage most places to get away from group purchasing plans and deal directly with companies yourselves. n How ASCs are preparing for spike in CMS approvals By Patsy Newitt J amie Heater, RN, Compass Surgical Partners' vice presi- dent of facility development, and Will Holding, Com- pass' vice president of development, joined the "Beck- er's Spine & Orthopedics Podcast" to outline how Compass is preparing for the increase in CMS procedure approval. Here is an excerpt from the podcast. Question: The 2021 CMS ruling has significantly increased the number of procedures approved to be performed in the ASC. How is your organization prepar- ing for these CMS changes? Will Holding: There was already migration, and we're start- ing to see certain codes added to the ASC schedule. The big swath that was removed from the inpatient list really under- scores a trend that was already happening, they just sped it up in terms of adoption. There are a lot of procedures on those lists that are not very commonly done in outpatient settings. The clear shift is to put the decision in the hands of the clini- cians, and we agree with that. If we can employ approaches around patient selection, patient advocacy and pain man- agement protocol, it will allow for cases like revision joint replacements to be done in centers in one-off cases where the anesthesia staff, surgeon and patient make a collective decision that a surgery center is the right environment for something that normally wouldn't be considered for that. I think it opens up some flexibility, and that will empower patients and surgeons to be able to start putting the patient in the right place, regardless of what that procedure is. To help facilitate that shift, we think collaboration is really important. We work with a lot of surgeons. They're busy people. But in terms of how to do these things effectively in a surgery center, surgeons will listen to others if there's real credible progress being made in other pockets. Fortunately, we have a network that allows us to do that. Inevitably, surgeons learn from each other. They help pick up things in terms of process flow and anesthesia. I think we'll start to see it more in the spine surgery side, allowing for things to be done safely that hadn't been done as much in surgery centers in the past. Every time a surgeon learns that there's a new technique, they bring that back to their partners, and we start to see progress. It's just creating all those conversations and making sure that there is as much information in as many changing hands as possible. And for our part, we'll be able to manage the process for them once they kind of determine what the right clinical approach is. n