Becker's ASC Review

13 ASC MANAGEMENT How staffing, telehealth can keep costs down during inflation By Alan Condon M edical Colleagues of Texas, a multispecialty group in Katy, is focusing on two key areas to reduce costs during a high inflation period, according to Ethan Bing, the practice's administrator: 1. Staffing. Medical Colleagues of Texas has made the most out of its office space by implementing a variable staffing model, which focuses on hiring part-time remote support staff. "We've always tried to stay slightly overstaffed so that we are able to operate effectively" in the event of employee sick days, vacations or emergencies, Mr. Bing said in the Medical Group Management Association's Performance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups report, published in September. "Having hybrid and part- time employees has allowed us to reduce our overall staffing capacity while still being able to pull on it by asking part-time employees to come in an extra day or two that week when they weren't on schedule." 2. Telehealth. e medical group's clinic supply costs have decreased 25 percent to 30 percent because of an uptick in telehealth appointments, which has also helped its providers see more patients while reducing staffing levels for the triage team, according to Mr. Bing. "Everything from less paper to less table paper sanitizer — it's small stuff, but it adds up," he said. n Physician-owned practices outperforming hospital peers: Report By Patsy Newitt I n 2021, physicians in physician-owned practices outproduced their hospital peers in six of the seven measured specialties, according to Medical Group Management Association's September 2022 report, "Performance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups." Here's the median work relative value unit production in physician-owned practices as a percentage of wRVU production in hospital-owned practices in 2021: Specialty Percentage Cardiology 105.6 percent Family medicine 126.1 percent Internal medicine 94.2 percent Orthopedic surgery 111.1 percent Radiology 108 percent General surgery 106.5 percent Urology 103.7 percent n Dallas physician denied bail amid allegations of tampering with IV bags at ASC By Patsy Newitt A nesthesiologist Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., MD, was denied bail Sept. 19 on federal charges and allegations that he tampered with IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, The Dallas Morning News reported. Dr. Ortiz, who was arrested Sept. 14, allegedly injected the IV bag with heart-stopping drugs such as bupivacaine, epinephrine and lidocaine that caused almost a dozen patients to experience unexpected cardiac emergencies. At least four IV bags were found to contain those drugs. He faces federal charges of tampering with a consumer product causing death and intentional drug adulteration. Magistrate Judge David Horan, who denied Dr. Ortiz bail, said there is no condition that could "reasonably ensure the safety" of the community if he was released on bail. Dr. Ortiz is a part of an ongoing investigation that links him to the compromised IV bags — including security footage of him depositing IV bags into a warmer in the hall outside operating rooms. The investigation began after the death of fellow anesthesiologist Melanie Kaspar, MD, who worked at the ASC and died June 21. She was originally thought to have had a heart attack, but the Dallas County Medical Examiner ruled her death to be from the effects of bupivacaine. According to the board, she took an IV bag home with her when she was ill to rehydrate, inserted the IV into her vein and had a serious cardiac event and died. Dr. Ortiz faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted. n

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