Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1368676
8 ASC MANAGEMENT Cardiology group sues SSM Health for $50M over lost hospital privileges: 5 details By Laura Dyrda S t. Louis Heart and Vascular sued SSM Health March 31 to prevent it from entering into an exclusive contract with another cardiology provider for adult services, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Five details: 1. St. Louis Heart and Vascular argues in the lawsuit that the exclusive contract would limit its ability "to compete for and treat adult cardiac patients" because it would no longer have privileges at SSM hospitals. 2. SSM told the Post-Dispatch its exclusive contract would im- prove care and business practices. The St. Louis-based system also said that St. Louis Heart and Vascular physicians can still see patients at other area hospitals and at the group's surgery center. 3. St. Louis Heart and Vascular's lawsuit is seeking $50 million in damages from SSM. 4. SSM hospitals granted St. Louis Heart and Vascular physi- cians privileges for almost 30 years, and in 2016 the group spent more than $15 million to open a practice across the street from the system's DePaul Hospital. 5. St. Louis Heart and Vascular physicians performed 770 pro- cedures on patients at SSM facilities last year. n Amazon's healthcare moves: 7 notes for ASCs and physicians By Laura Dyrda A mazon is a big force in healthcare and has made significant changes in the past 12 months that could affect physician practices and ASCs. e company has launched initiatives to aid the COVID-19 vaccine efforts, make the supply chain more efficient and expand virtual care. Here are seven things to know: 1. Amazon proposed using the company's operations, IT and communications to help the government distribute COVID-19 vaccines. e company's CEO of consumer busi- ness, Dave Clark, sent a letter to President Joe Biden offering the company's services. It already teamed up with Seattle- based Virginia Mason to develop a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site and plans to launch more mass vaccination efforts in the future. 2. Amazon aims to help lower supply spend for ASCs and other healthcare organizations through e-procurement of supplies. ASC administrators are using Amazon to order per- sonal protective equipment in some cases when they run low. "My normal vendors have [PPE] on allocation, and we have noticed our allocation is not enough to get us through the month. We are searching other sites, including Amazon, to help close the gap," Cindy Young, administrator of Sur- gery Center of Farmington (Mo.) told Becker's. "We have purchased from Amazon masks for patients to wear and bouffant caps." 3. Amazon is planning to expand its virtual care program, Amazon Care, beyond employees to other large employers. e company launched the program in September 2019 to include a combination of telemedicine and in-person services. e company also has telehealth partnerships with BestBuy and Crossover Health. 4. Amazon Web Services launched a new service for health- care and life sciences organizations Dec. 8 to aggregate information into a data lake and automatically normalize it for machine learning. e company also has a COVID-19 data lake, which is available to the public. 5. Amazon launched an online pharmacy Nov. 17 for patients to purchase prescriptions. Patients can manage insurance and prescription information through the Amazon Pharmacy and Prime members get free two-day medication delivery. 6. Amazon is searching for a physician to join its world- wide healthcare and life sciences leadership team. e ideal candidate would be a physician with a business or consult- ing background and someone with a strong understanding of technology. 7. Haven, the healthcare joint venture Amazon founded in 2018 with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway, dis- solved. e companies do still plan to collaborate informally on healthcare projects. n 3-level lumbar fusion performed at a Virginia ASC By Carly Behm J effrey Carlson, MD, performed a three-level lumbar fusion on a 37-year-old patient at Newport News-based Coastal Virginia Surgery Center. The procedure, done March 3, was one of the first three-level lumbar fusions done at an ASC in the U.S. The patient, a for- mer semiprofessional baseball player, had back and leg pain for more than 10 years and tried several treatments before. "Spine surgery techniques and pain management have so improved over the past ten years that I routinely perform outpa- tient lumbar fusions in single and two levels," Dr. Carlson said in a March 11 news release. "Now, we have seen that same evolu- tion with three-level lumbar fusion surgical techniques. Patients experience much less pain and can be home the same day." Dr. Carlson also implanted Boston Scientific's MRI-compatible spinal cord stimulator at the ASC. Coastal Virginia Surgery Center has seven orthopedic surgeons and two pain manage- ment specialists. n