Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1479222
23 ASC MANAGEMENT HCA Florida Lawnwood opens $100M tower with outpatient surgery By Marcus Robertson F ort Pierce, Fla.-based Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, opened a $100 million, four-story tower expansion on June 23. The first floor is designated for outpatient services, while the second floor is dedicated to inpatient needs. The third and fourth floors are designated as shell space for future growth, according to a June 23 hospital press release. Three operating rooms were added, with expansions to the preoperative and recovery areas. n San Antonio's Methodist Northeast breaks ground on ASC By Marcus Robertson S an Antonio-based Methodist Hospital Northeast is building a medical office building with an ASC, San Antonio Express-News reported June 30. The ASC will include five operating rooms, robotic surgery and a cardiology imaging center, the report said. The 73,000-square-foot facility housing it will span three floors. The hospital is planning an additional medical office building as part of the next phase of their expansion plans, the report said. n Same surgery cost nearly 20 times more in HOPD than ASC in California By Patsy Newitt A retired orthopedic surgeon in Fresno, Calif., was charged nearly $4,000 more for a cataract surgery at a hospital outpatient department than his wife who received the same procedure at an ASC, Kaiser Health News reported June 27. In December 2021, 73-year-old Danilo Manimtim, insured by Anthem Blue Cross of California, went to the HOPD of Saint Agnes Medical Center to receive the cataract surgery. Overall charges ended up being $9,084 for surgery, anesthesia, medical supplies, pharmacy and clinical laboratory services. Anthem paid $5,027 and initially billed Mr. Manimtim $4,057. Four months later, his 66-year-old wife, Marilou Manimtim, had the same procedure at Fresno-based Eye-Q. Both patients had the same insurance coverage and both providers were in network, but Ms. Marilou ended up owing only $204. "is is ridiculous, and it feels very unfair," Mr. Manimtim told Kaiser Health News. "How can it be so much more expensive than the surgical center? It's walking distance away, and if I would have gone there, I would have saved myself a lot of money." Mr. Manimtim's insurance plan, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, caps payment for outpatient cataract surgery at $2,000. Aer being contacted by Kaiser Health Network, Anthem reached out to the hospital seeking help for Mr. Manimtim. Under Mr. Manimtim's insurance plan, the physician is responsible for requesting an exemption from the $2,000 limit, which didn't happen before the surgery. Anthem then asked the hospital and physician to consider the request aer the surgery. Saint Agnes spokesperson Kelley Sanchez told Kaiser Health News that the hospital later requested the exemption and that it was approved by Anthem. e update would leave Mr. Manimtim with a $750 coinsurance bill, with Anthem covering a large portion of the remaining $4,057 bill. n Image Credit: Adobe Stock