Becker's ASC Review

12 13th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Future of Spine – Call (800) 417-2035 A mbulatory surgery centers cannot succeed financially without keep- ing a tight reign on supply costs in addition to providing high-qual- ity care. "There is a lot of attention being paid to supply chain in today's healthcare market and the impact it has on the success of an ASC," says Jean Skora, materials manager at The Surgery Center of Pinehurst (N.C.). "Supply chain strategy should be well-researched and planned carefully from the start. It's very hard to go back and fix something that isn't working." One of the reasons for supply chain management failure is not planning pur- chases in accordance with the owners/surgeons of the facility. Administrators start purchasing at hospital inventory levels because of familiarity. "And then it fails because they are purchasing too much inventory at higher prices and the ASC doesn't have the volume to use it all," says Lori Pilla, vice president of the clinical advantage program and supply chain optimization at Amerinet. Another reason supply chain strategies fail is when too many people manage it. There tends to be several cross-functional duties. Staff members are often expected to wear multiple hats. "But when it comes to supply chain manage- ment having too many people be involved is not a good idea," said Ms. Pilla. "When too many people have a say, the strategy is lost, and managing your costs can be challenging." Try any given strategy for at least six months. "I don't recommend starting from scratch and implementing a whole new strategy," says Ms. Pilla. "Exam- ine what went wrong and then tweak the strategy." Here are four signs that a supply chain strategy is failing: 1. When the numbers reflect financial loss. Finding a drop in the numbers is a sure sign that a supply strategy is failing. "If your inventory on hand sits longer than 45 days and your supply cost per case is double your budget, you have a problem," says Ms. Skora. It is important that ASC admin- istrators are aware of the budget and keep a close watch on the supply chain. 2. When supply chain strategy doesn't relate to services. You know a supply strategy is failing when the volume and supply strategy do not match. "That is when you know you need to make changes to your strategy," says Ms. Pilla. Block time is a great way to standardize supply strategy and services. On any given day in an ASC, switching between procedures and specialties wastes time. Organize each day ac- cording to a different specialty, suggests Ms. Pilla. For example, do all eye procedures on one day and then all orthopedic ar- throscopies the next. 3. When overhead/ex- press charges become the norm. When an ASC adminis- trator starts seeing increases in overhead or overnight delivery charges regularly, the supply chain is not being managed properly. "This means that the ASC is scrambling to get the supplies that it needs," Ms. Pilla says. "Which means the person in charge of supply chain is not checking the schedule closely and is not anticipating needs." 4. When cases get can- celled due to lack of sup- plies. An ASC cannot function without supplies, and a failing supply chain affects every part of a facility, says Ms. Skora. Ev- ery member of the clinical staff depends on supplies being there. "If the supplies aren't there to perform a surgery there is nothing else to blame but poor supply chain management. There is no bigger failure within the supply chain than a cancelled case due to lack of supplies," says Ms. Skora. Supply chain strategy failure at different ASCs is likely the result of multiple problems. Each facility needs to assess their strategy, identify weaknesses and make changes. "Do your research before you change your strategy," says Ms. Skora. "Jumping the gun and changing things drastically can cause scrutiny." n Your Supply Chain Strategy is Failing — 4 Warning Signs By Anuja Vaidya Jean Skora Lori Pilla T he group that guides the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on performance measures for the federal quality reporting program is recommending two new measures for the ASC Quality Report- ing Program, according to an ASCA report. The group — The Measures Applications Part- nership — issued a draft recommendation sup- porting the two new measures: • Unplanned Anterior Vitrectomy • Normothermia Here are five things to know: 1. Based on these new recommendations, CMS may include the new measures in its proposed ASC payment rule this summer. 2. The Unplanned Anterior Vitrectomy measure would be used to determine cataract surgery pa- tients who underwent unplanned anterior vit- rectomy based on certain CPT codes. 3. The Normothermia measure would examine the number of patients who have neuraxial an- esthesia for 60 minutes or more and are normo- thermic within 15 minutes after arriving in the PACU. 4. ASCA suggests beginning to collect data for these measures if they are appropriate for your case mix. 5. The ASCA Benchmarking program collects data for both of these new measures. n CMS ASC Quality Reporting Could Get 2 New Measures By Laura Dyrda

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