Becker's ASC Review

13 ASC MANAGEMENT Iowa ASC commended for total hip, knee replacement By Alan Condon S urgery Center Cedar Rapids (Iowa) has been awarded the Blue Distinction Centers+ recognition by Blue Cross Blue Shield. The facility is the only ASC in Eastern Iowa with this distinction, and the only ASC in the state that also has the "+" distinction, which indicates efficiency in patient care, Surgery Center Cedar Rapids said in a news release. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated facilities that demonstrate expertise in delivering high-quality patient safety and superior outcomes, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community and accreditation and quality organizations. "For almost six years, Surgery Center Cedar Rapids has been providing high-quality, lower-cost, care to our total knee and total hip replacement patients," Julie Brinegar, executive director of the ASC, said in the release. "This distinction validates the exceptional care we provide to our patients and is a testimony to the expert surgeons and staff working at Surgery Center Cedar Rapids who care for our patients every day." n Idaho hospital's $40M heart center, outpatient expansion to allow hiring of 20+ physicians By Marcus Robertson C oeur d'Alene, Idaho-based Kootenai Health is building a $40 million heart center and outpatient surgery expansion that will create the capacity for more than 20 new physicians, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported Aug. 16. The expansion to the heart center will add 37,000 square feet, nine patient rooms, a cardiac catheterization lab and an electrophysiology lab, the report said. Once completed, Kootenai Health will be able to hire five interventional cardiologists, four electrophysiologists, three vascular surgeons and eight noninterventional cardiologists. The hospital is aiming to recruit an additional four noninterventional cardiologists, one interventional cardiologist and two electrophysiologists by the end of 2022, the report said. The outpatient surgery expansion includes nine recovery bays, two operating rooms and a separate main operation room, the report said. Construction on the heart center is expected to be completed by fall 2023. n Payers are pushing physicians to ASCs By Patsy Newitt P ayers are incentivizing physicians to perform procedures in low-cost settings, which means ASCs are becoming increasingly attractive, according to ASC leaders. Insurers are finally seeing the cost savings potential in the outpatient setting. In the last decade, payers have caught on that ASC procedures are about half the cost of a hospital, according to a report from Regent Surgical Health. "Many payers are developing steerage mechanisms to shi cases to lower-cost settings which will result in more pressure on physicians to move cases to the outpatient ASC arena," Andrew Lovewell, administrator of the Surgical Center at Columbia (Mo.) Orthopaedic Group, told Becker's. In November 2019, UnitedHealthcare adopted a policy that restricted sites of care for some nonurgent surgeries. e payer now reimburses for surgeries performed in hospital outpatient departments only if the setting is medically necessary based on the acuity of the patient. In April 2021, Empire BlueCross BlueShield in New York began requiring a medical necessity review to have certain procedures performed in the outpatient hospital setting instead of an ASC. "With the continued rising cost of patient care in the hospital setting, ASCs have become many insurance companies' preference for outpatient surgery," Dianna Reed, administrator of Sani Eye Surgery Center in Templeton, Calif., told Becker's. ere are also financial incentives for physicians to own and practice at ASCs. Physicians stand to win big with an ASC ownership stake. "Physician ownership preserves efficiency, is a great recruitment tool and keeps costs down for our patients," Scott ellman, MD, surgeon at Lawrence (Kan.) Plastic Surgery, told Becker's. n "Physician ownership preserves efficiency, is a great recruitment tool and keeps costs down for our patients." — Dr. Scott Thellman, Lawrence Plastic Surgery

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