Becker's ASC Review

12 ASC MANAGEMENT The investment ASCs can't afford to skip By Laura Dyrda A SCs are in a great position to capital- ize on the trend to value-based care. Surgery centers are the high-quality, low-cost setting for care and could save Medicare, insurers and patients billions of dollars every year by migrating outpatient surgeries to the low-acuity setting. But there is one thing holding them back. Technology. "Technology is key as we move toward an outcome-based payment structure from the traditional fee-for-service," said Jeffrey Flynn, administrator and COO of Gramercy Surgery Center in New York City. "Many payers are approaching us about bundles and outcome data." Hospitals and insurers have sophisticated EHRs and data management systems to capture information about patients and de- liver a high level of care. ey have a huge advantage over ASCs when it comes to val- ue-based care and risk-based contracting because they have the data and analytical capabilities to negotiate rates and contracts beneficial for them. ASCs, on the other hand, were le out of the digital transformation, and the price of even specialty-focused EHRs is out of reach. e federal government required hospitals to implement EHRs in 2009 with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and provided financial assistance through the meaningful use pro- gram. Surgery centers did not receive similar support to go digital and had to foot the entire bill if they wanted the latest technology. Many are still operating on paper records. More than one-third of the 157 ASCs in New York do not have EHRs, according to Mr. Flynn, who is also the vice president of the New York State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers. He sees the lack of digital transformation among member centers as concerning. "Without [EHRs], it will be very difficult to track outcomes and can have a detri- mental effect on [ASCs'] future payment structures," Mr. Flynn said. "However, those centers that are thinking of this now and implementing the technology to track out- comes will benefit greatly as this new pay- ment model takes place." EHRs can also make ASC operations more ef- ficient and effective, according to Rick Liwa- nag, MSN, administrator of Gulf Coast Out- patient in Biloxi, Miss. e long-term savings help centers realize a return on investment for the expensive EHR systems. "ASCs are slow to take advantage of the ben- efits of an EHR," he said. "We are just now moving from paper to electronic, even if it has been proven to save so much time and cost." e lack of digital capabilities will also put ASCs behind in the race to attract patients, who increasingly demand a seamless health- care experience. Patients are searching for healthcare providers online, and an attractive digital front door with the ability for them to schedule appointments online and pay at their convenience will be necessary moving forward. ASCs are on tight budgets with rising supply and labor costs, but the most forward-looking administrators are making room in their bud- gets to invest in EHRs and data analytics to prepare for the future. n 'Super Saturdays' are appealing to ASCs and staff during surgical backlogs By Alan Condon M any ASCs continue to address surgical backlogs that healthcare facilities saw skyrocket since the COVID-19 pandemic, but one straightforward strategy is doing a great deal to keep surgery centers and their staff happy. The backlog of services, which could take years for some centers to recover from depending on the specialty and site of care, has led some hospitals and ASCs to adopt a "Super Saturday" strategy, increasing scheduling flexibility by imple- menting a special weekend block for high-volume surgeries. Super Saturdays are helping many ASCs catch up with pro- cedures that were postponed earlier in the pandemic, and opening on weekends offers employees an opportunity to take home additional income. "A lot of staff like it because during COVID they've lost wages through times that they've been forced to take time off or times where they've been forced to take PTO to take care of their kids," Jeff Peters, CEO of consulting firm Surgical Direc- tions, said during a Becker's webinar March 3. "Staff are very anxious to try to find a way to accommodate it." Central to keeping both staff members and surgeons happy and engaged during a weekend block is not mandating that any employee come in on a Saturday or Sunday; it needs to be voluntary. "If you're interested, we'll give you premium pay or add to your PTO bank," Mr. Peters said. "The nice part about doing it this way is you have surgeons who are very motivated to do it; they can typically get twice as many cases done in eight hours than a normal day, and it's a better experience for both the surgeon and the patient." Another key component is the surgeon operating during weekend blocks. The ideal candidate for an ASC would be a surgeon who knows how to expedite cases and is comfort- able working out of two rooms. "Productivity is a key goal, so make sure the surgeon has a panel of low-risk patients who are unlikely to require extend- ed operative time," Mr. Peters said. n

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