Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/381883
18 ASC Turnarounds: Ideas to Improve Performance D ata analytics capabilities are applied all across healthcare now. Even hospitals and physician practices in the most remote locations are gathering data with electronic medical records or practice software systems and reaping the clinical and operational benefits of big data. It's time for ambulatory surgery centers to jump onboard. The level of data collection experience varies widely from center to center — some with man- agement company affiliation have been collecting and benchmarking against sophisticated data for years while others barely keep Excel spreadsheets up- dated from month to month. But, in the data-driven healthcare environ- ment, there are clear advantages for ASCs proving they are the highest qual- ity, lowest cost provider in the market. "ASCs can mine and benchmark various types of data and then use that data to track and understand cost, revenue, quality and other key indicators on a case-by-case basis," says Sikander Hassan, vice president of business intelli- gence for Nueterra. "From there, they can use the data sets to determine how well their center is doing — what do the case costing figures look like, which physicians and/or procedures are the most cost-effective and then which physicians/procedures are the least effective." Medicare-certified ASCs are now required to report quality data, which will likely become public information published online much like hospital and individual physician data are already online today. These reports are also helpful for non-government payers, healthcare agencies, shareholders and contractors to see how the center meets current healthcare standards and pass annual accreditation surveys or license renewals. "Overall, ASCs can use the data reports to make better decisions and improve business by reducing costs, increasing revenue and improving customer sat- isfaction," says Mr. Hassan. "Complete and accurate data input is the founda- tion of accurate data analytics. In order to help ASCs generate accurate data analytics, all shareholders have to be cooperative." Some of the most valuable business operational benchmarks to collect include: • Cost per case • Cost per case per physician • Case volume • Case mix • Payer mix • Reimbursement per case per payer • Room turnover times • Time spent in waiting room/preop/surgery/PACU • Staffing hours: administrative, clinical and total Data Analytics in ASCs: The Future is Here By Laura Dyrda