Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1475204
19 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP The 2 factors determining ASC success By Patsy Newitt A SC success boils down to CMS policy and cost man- agement, according to Sandy Berreth, RN, adminis- trator at Foothill Surgery Center in Santa Barbara, Calif. Below, she discusses those factors surgery centers can control and those they can't. Editor's note: This interview was edited lightly for length and clarity. Question: Which ASCs will win in their markets in the next 5 years? Sandy Berreth: The field of ASC specialties is wide open at this point. The true determinate is what CMS will deem payable in an ASC. If cardiovascular and spine are allowed to flourish, they will be clear winners. However, the physi- cians in those specialties will need to learn how to man- age costs and supplies to maximize their success ratios. Clearly, multispecialty ASCs will become as successful as acute care hospitals, if allowed by CMS, and much more profitable. However, again, managing supply costs, payer contracts and staffing costs will be essential. Q: What is the role of ASCs in the healthcare landscape? SB: The ASCs' roles have been clearly identified for sev- eral years. The standard answer is that lowering costs to both the payer and the consumer is the essential benefit of the ASC structure in healthcare. A clear second consid- eration is care and infection prevention. ASCs continue to outdistance acute care hospitals with quality of care and ever-present low infection rates — therefore no returns to the operating room and lower costs. The ASC dynamic is ever-changing. ASCs are able to adapt without reams of "red tape." Remember, ASCs are ever-evolving and adapting. We are benchmarking within and without and seeking ways to improve while acute care is often mired in bureaucracy. Why patients are flocking to orthopedic ASCs By Patsy Newitt A ccording to Andrew Wade, CEO of OrthoSC in Myrtle Beach, S.C., orthopedic ASCs can offer a hyper-focused level of care unavailable at any other site of service. Mr. Wade joined Becker's to discuss why patients are flocking to orthopedic ASCs, and what his biggest day-to-day challenge is. Editor's note: ese answers were edited lightly for clarity and brevity. Question: What's drawing patients to ASCs over hospital settings? Andrew Wade: Efficiency, access and experience. When patients choose an orthopedic ASC, they're choosing a hyper-focused center of care where, in most cases, all that center does is orthopedic care. We eat, sleep and breathe the work of getting patients in to be taken care of quickly, making the process seamless, and ensuring that our teams are focused on creating really great experiences. Additionally, while most consumers don't recognize it yet, ASCs are substantially lowering the cost of care for the healthcare system as a whole. We're big fans of our hospital partners within our community, and they play a vital role, but they are much bigger organisms, and they have significantly greater complexity to take care of patients under their roofs. We get to zero in and really deliver focused excellence. Q: What's your biggest day-to-day challenge and how are you addressing it? AW: Staffing is by far the biggest challenge that we're facing today. e inflationary market pressure on all of our collective purchas- ing power and the "great reshuffling" have created extreme wage competition and a hyper-competitiveness within the market. We're addressing these challenges by raising wages/benefits, looking for ways to create increased flexibility in where, when and how our team members do their jobs, and working harder than ever to ensure that our team members know that we appreciate and value their vital part in our collective ability to take care of our community. n Image Credit: Adobe Stock