Becker's ASC Review

ASC Turnarounds: Ideas to Improve Performance loyalty and can make up for the days when staff members are sent home early without pay for scheduling compression. Flexible companies also allow employees to alter their schedules in advance for appointments, family obligations and other personal reasons without penalty, Ms. Coleman says. Why allow for staff flexibility? 4. Increases morale. Creating an environment of scheduling flexibility will produce happier employees, who in turn become more productive, Ms. Coleman says. High employee morale also seeps into the overall atmosphere of the surgery center, including how the patients and surgeons view the ASC. Varied schedules also keep employees from getting stuck in the routine of their positions, and thus less likely to make on-the-job mistakes. 5. Reduces absenteeism and turnover. When a surgery center can accommodate the scheduling needs and wants of employees, the center is more likely to have employees that show up for shifts on time and retain their positions longer. Less absenteeism and tardiness will help the operating room schedule stay on time, which also makes patients and surgeons happy. 13 Also, if your ASC can retain employees longer, then you will have to invest fewer dollars and hours in recruiting and training new employees. Instead, your center's financial and professional focus can be on patient care and optimal business operations. 6. Allows employees to have other jobs. Most per diem workers have employment at other locations, such as hospitals or clinics, Ms. Coleman says. They seek surgery center employment for additional income. Working around any current job schedules enables your center to hire a capable employee who may have been unable to accept the position with a rigid weekly schedule. n 5 Steps to Turn Your ASC Into a Destination Setting By Jessica Nantz, President and Founder, Outpatient Healthcare Strategies  A s patient-consumers have assumed more responsibility for the cost of healthcare, they are taking greater interest in where to receive surgical care. Employers have assumed more of the financial burden of the care their employees receive as well, and have also taken a greater interest in where their employees receive care. According to a July 2011 report from the Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, patient out-of-pocket spending and private health insurance are both projected to grow in 2013. Out-of-pocket spending is projected to grow 3.9 percent in 2013, up from 1.8 percent in 2010. As household incomes grow this is expected to lead to more healthcare spending and employers are anticipated to increase cost-sharing requirements in employer-sponsored insurance plans. Private health insurance spending is projected to grow 4.8 percent in 2013, up from 2.6 percent in 2010. Employer-sponsored insurance enrollment is expected to increase with gains in employment. While both patient-consumers and employers are looking to keep the costs of care down, they are also seeking providers with a reputation and track record for quality care and positive outcomes to help reduce the need for future care and additional costs. But the search for providers that can deliver lowcost, high-quality care is no longer limited to a setting located within a reasonable drive. Patientconsumers and employers are surgery shopping outside of their state and region to identify the best providers available and at the best prices — prices that do not necessarily just look at the cost of procedures but may factor in expenses associated with travel to and from a setting. Payors, looking to keep costs down, are also investing in resources to help their members find quality, affordable care. Jessica Nantz With these new developments, ASCs are no longer in competition for patient-consumers with just local hospitals and other area ASCs. They are now in competition with surgical providers throughout the country. Due to this increased competition and tightening reimbursement, surgery centers must turn themselves into destination settings — built around a focus on quality, transparent costs and, perhaps most importantly, superior customer service — if they wish to keep their case volume from local patients high and bring in patients from outside of their market. Here are five steps ASCs should take to turn their facility into a destination setting for surgical care. 1. Provide price transparency. Even just a few years ago, cost wasn't a significant determining factor — if it was a factor at all — of where a patient underwent a procedure. For many patient-consumers, price is now a significant factor. You may provide outstanding care, but your facility may be looked over as an option for patient-consumers if they cannot determine what that care will cost. As such, it is imperative to find ways to provide transparency into the prices you charge for procedures, explain why you charge the amount you charge and identify what the charges cover and what they do not. By sharing this information, you are not only providing an important detail that is likely on a patient-consumer's evaluation criteria checklist but you are developing a level of trust with the patient-consumer built around honesty as well as open and accurate communication that does not hide or disguise information. It is also important to make this information easy to find or patient-consumers may believe you do not provide pricing transparency. For example, if you visit the website of Surgery Center of Oklahoma, the second item on its website's menu concerns pricing. This ASC has received significant, and often very positive, media attention for posting its prices for patients coming to the surgery center for care not covered by insurance. 2. Keep costs low. If a patient-consumer identifies two facilities believed to provide an equal level of quality care, the lower cost option is likely to win out. While it may go against your ASC's model for financial success, continue to explore different ways to lower the cost of the care you provide but now pass some — or more — of these savings along to patients in the form of lower prices.

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