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8 13th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Future of Spine – Call (800) 417-2035 T he year 2015 promises to be an interesting year in the ambulatory surgery industry. What are the most significant projects or plans administrators have for their centers for the year ahead? Here, 11 administrators tell all. "Our ASC is a very large, freestanding multispecialty center. Our biggest plans in the coming year will be centered on a change in our medical staff and anesthesia provider group. Our original physician owners, who were once members of a large, independent physician medical group, are now becoming employed by a hospital system that is affiliated with an academic medical center. In addition, our current contracted indepen- dent anesthesia group of physicians is becoming employed by that same hospital system. Many of our current medical staff physicians are used to operating in the ASC setting. However, not all of the physicians who have been with the academic center are accustomed to the pace and efficiency associated with the surgery center environment. We are also preparing to eventually be a large part of an ACO, which is being formed between our hospital system owner and several other hospital systems in our area." -Dianne Appleby, Menomonee Falls (Wis.) Ambulatory Surgery Center "We are a single-specialty ophthalmology surgical center. My biggest plans for the year 2015 will be to cross-train staff to be comfortable and knowl- edgeable in all areas of the center and to utilize all OR time." -Annice Bacsik, Surgery Center of Central NJ (North Brunswick) "As the ACA becomes a more prominent fixture in health- care, I need to be more attuned to how it affects my sur- gery center. Third-party payers have always been chal- lenging for a smaller ASC in middle America, but now focusing on lower reimbursements triggered by increas- ing enrollments to lower-cost providers will be even more of a challenge. As with every challenge, focusing and plan- ning for the worst case scenario will prepare you for long range success; so my biggest plans? Staying ahead!" -Sandi Berreth, Brainerd Lakes Surgery Center (Baxter, Minn.) "We have quite a few items on our short list for next year. One is deploying technology to automate analysis and stud- ies. For instance, we are in the process of implementing tech- nology to track our adenoma detection rate. We will also be implementing a fully integrated practice management auto- mated insurance verification system, to name a few. We will be participating in quite a few research studies that will be both clinically rewarding, as well as bring more patients to our center." -Susan Cheek, Dallas Endoscopy Center "Increasing our total joint service line. We have implemented the pro- gram, but we are still trying to gain momentum in case volume. We have our spine program going strong but would like to see more volume in that service line as well." -Andrea Fann, Orthopaedic South Surgical Center (Morrow, Ga.) "Gramercy Surgery Center will be opening our new satellite center in Queens (N.Y.). This center will also have four operating rooms, as our Manhattan location does. With this additional site our expansion into our fourteenth and fifteenth specialties is going to become a reality." -Jeffrey Flynn, Gramercy Surgical Center (New York City) "Our biggest plan for 2015 at High Plains Surgery Center is to focus on case costing within each specialty. We want to continue to work on supply management and supply cost. We continue to see the trend of decreasing profit margins, so we want to be as efficient as possible when performing our cases, which provide excellent patient outcomes." -Debbie Hall, High Plains Surgery Center (Lubbock, Texas) "Recruit, recruit, recruit. Find additional surgeons or specialists to fill holes in our surgery schedule. Any additional revenue is good revenue, if you have staff working eight to 10 hours per day, and the block would otherwise go unused." -Steve Henry, Surgery Center at Liberty (Mo.) Hospital "Expand volume and add additional physicians and service lines. Continue to cross train staff to all areas to maximize efficiency." -Shirley Hines, Atlantic Surgery Center (Daytona Beach, Fla.) "Growth! Currently, in our market area, we are focusing on the shift from physicians using an HOPD and inquiring about our ASC. The insurances have began the push of in- creased physician reimbursements for procedures that are performed at the lower-cost, efficient ASC. Our patients are also seeing the benefit [of this trend] by paying less for their procedures in an ASC compared to a HOPD. We have had multiple inquiries from new physicians who are looking to join the only mul- tispecialty ASC in the area, Viewmont Surgery Center." -Kathy Kelly, Viewmont Surgery Center (Hickory, N.C.) "My biggest plans for 2015 (and in my prior years) would be to con- tinue to focus on improving both business office and clinical efficiencies. With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act becoming more a part of the healthcare delivery landscape, it's clear that contract negotia- tions and new institutional regulations will be an increasing challenge for facilities to deal with. My other plans include an outreach program to increase volume by showing price transparency between hospital ambu- latory surgical services versus ambulatory surgical services." -Gary A. Richberg, Pacific Rim Outpatient Surgery Center (Bellingham, Wash.) "Our biggest plan for our ASC in 2015 is growth. We are very excited about the proposed Medicare changes for spine and total joints. The proposal is going to allow for these cases to be done in the ASC setting for 2015. This will increase our case volume if we are allowed to perform total joints and spine surgery on Medicare patients, since some of the other insurances follow suit. Keeping case volumes up is obviously a huge part in making the center successful for the future. We also hope to recruit a few new doctors to the center." -Janice Stewart, Surgcenter of Bel Air (Md.) n Would you like to contribute to ASC administrator roundtables in the fu- ture? Contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com for more in- formation. 12 ASC Administrators: 'Our Biggest Plans for 2015' By Ellie Rizzo