Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1507957
10 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 1 SPONSORED BY Delivering outpatient care with the patient in mind: 4 design principles from Arrowhead Surgery Center S urgical procedures continue to shift away from hospitals to outpatient facilities. 1 As technologies and anesthesia techniques evolve, more complex patient cases can be performed successfully in ambulatory surgery centers. Now is the time for physicians to consider how they can further their practices by entering the ASC market. To learn more about the process of successfully building an ASC, Becker's Healthcare recently spoke with two leaders from Arrowhead Surgery Center (Duluth, Minn.) — neurosurgeon Jared Broadway, MD and administrator Ben Fagerlie. Arrowhead Surgery Center, which has its state licensure and is currently awaiting The Joint Commission survey, will soon open its doors to the community. Dr. Broadway and Mr. Fagerlie discussed the multi-year planning processes and the partnerships Arrowhead Surgery Center has leveraged to create a truly patient-centered ASC for spine surgery. Design principle 1: Keep patients top of mind Patient demand is one of the major contributors to ASC growth. 2 Rather than spending days in a hospital, people prefer outpatient surgery and being able to recover in the comfort of their homes. To deliver the highest level of care and meet patient expectations, every detail of the ASC must be designed with the patient in mind. One of the first considerations for Dr. Broadway and the Arrowhead Surgery Center team was selecting the right building location. Duluth, Minn. is located on a rocky hill on the shores of Lake Superior. The downtown area has many one-way streets, and parking can be difficult. In addition, winters are cold and snowy. "The community in northeastern Minnesota is aging and we had heard about their challenges with the roads and parking in Duluth," Mr. Fagerlie said. "We spent a lot of time thinking about the patient journey and recognized the importance of finding a place that would be easy for people to get to." The Arrowhead Surgery Center team evaluated both a former high school building, located on a hill, and new construction. Unfortunately, neither were ideal. Instead, the team decided to lease space as an anchor tenant in the largest, privately owned building in Duluth. The building owners shared Dr. Broadway's vision, and they agreed to renovate the lobby. The first floor of the 180,000-square-foot building has now been converted to Arrowpointe Medical Center. "I think we've done something novel by creating a medical destination sub-specialty building," Dr. Broadway said. "Arrowpointe Medical Center includes our neurological spine ASC, as well as dermatology, retinal surgery, physical therapy and plastic surgery practices. This is a new experience for our community where larger organizations deliver most healthcare." Arrowpointe Medical Center has 1,100 free parking spaces, a comfortable lobby and a covered discharge area adjacent to Arrowhead Surgery Center, so family, friends and caregivers can easily pick up patients after a procedure. "We took a lot of time on the front end to think about the patient experience," Mr. Fagerlie said. "We want it to be easy for people to get here, and we want them to feel comfortable once they arrive." Design principle 2: Plan with an eye toward scalability and expansion Arrowhead Surgery Center's 17,500-square-foot facility includes a clinic, two operating rooms and one procedure room. Dr. Broadway and the team worked closely with an architect to ensure that over time, two additional ORs can easily be added to the ASC without disrupting patient flow. "If we decide to expand, it won't impact operations," Mr. Fagerlie said. "Medical gas lines have already been piped in for two additional operating rooms, and the sterile processing area is located adjacent to the two existing ORs. A big part of our planning process was making sure we were positioned for the future, not just for our current needs." Dr. Broadway concurred. "Many ASC operators fail to plan for the future, especially if they are using an existing structure," he said. "We've planned everything so the conversion to a four-OR ASC will be relatively simple. The other thing to keep in mind is sterile processing capacity. You must be able to support your caseload." Design principle 3: Remember that you don't have to go it alone As Dr. Broadway and the Arrowhead Surgery Center team embarked on the ASC building process, they also met with several potential vendor partners and evaluated the pros and cons of each one.