Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/956253
17 ASC TURNAROUNDS orthopedics has had a net increase of a number of procedures that will now be able to be performed at ASCs in accord with the new CPC list of procedures. Medicare continually adds new procedures to the approved list for ASCs. Be aware and target those new services to investigate to add to the ASC's current service mix. 4. How will you provide the service? Here's where the manager needs to sit down and write a business plan for the service. Make sure the following points are addressed: • Space: Can you offer the service within the current building, or is extra space needed? How will the extra space be carved out? If there is a need to lease extra space, is it available adjacent to the ASC? What will it cost? • Equipment: Will more need to be purchased to provide the new service? If so, what is the cost, and how soon can it be delivered? • Staff: Can the new service be offered with your current staff ? Will the staff need special training? Will the ASC need extra staff ? If so, is this personnel available, and at what cost? • e Deal: How will it be structured for the surgeons? Is there expensive instrumentation to purchase? Perhaps the physician can buy it, and the ASC will lease it for one year, helping to share the risk. Be sure to consider Safe Harbor and Medicare regulations. At the same time, the new service is more likely to succeed if the physicians have some kind of vested interest. • Potential for procedures: How many procedures can the ASC expect to perform? Will these come from the existing base of surgeons, or will the manager need to bring in new surgeons? Is this service self-referred by patients? • Revenue per procedure: How much can the ASC charge, and is this charge vulnerable to discounts by competitors? Will any third party reimburse for it, and how much? Make sure the ASC can generate enough revenue to pay for costs and to increase ASC profitability. • Special concerns: If it's a cosmetic or elective service, will the ASC need to offer patient financing? What about patient education or any complex informed consent process? Who will conduct these, and at what cost? Will this patient group need special hours or services (transportation, child care) that are not already provided? 5. How will you promote/support it? When management introduces a new service, such as outpatient spine surgery, one cannot just rely on the partner physicians to promote the service at the ASC through referrals. Most of the public relations, contracting and advertising burden falls on the ASC management. is includes alerting physi- cians and their staffs of new services. Some ASCs use newsletters to patients, social media. Brochures in the lobby of the ASC is effective as well as giving the brochures or collateral material about the new service to the office managers of the doctors to place in the doctor's reception areas. New services may also be promoted by an article written by the physician and given to the newspaper as "healthcare news". Many smaller town weekly papers are searching for content and welcome informative (not sales) articles about the health benefits of new services. It is considered patient education of the benefit of the new service. We have also used and insert or messages about new services printed on the doctor's billing statements or inserts regarding the services enclosed in the patient statements. Management can work out creative arrangements with physicians, such as underwriting promotions of patient evaluations or offer- ing free evaluations to promote the new ASC service. e partner physicians can be provided with a letter (to send on their letterhead) informing patients of the new service, or management can write an article for the doctors' practice newsletter or local newspaper high- lighting the new service and that the doctor is participating in this new service. ere is nothing wrong with going directly to patients with news releases and articles, talks at health clubs or before special interest groups, or local broadcast interviews. If a patient is referred for the new service, make sure there is a clear connection to the ASC and the physician's name. If management is trying to draw in other doctors, make a strong point to consumers such as "ask your doctor about…" and then make sure the physician offices are already informed about the new service. In the ever-changing world of the ASC, the challenge is to manage the services, strategy and economics to your benefit. is means understanding the competition, technology, changes in the physician- specialty mix, and trends with payers and the government, and then taking control within your local area. When management blends various promotional events, and tech- niques tailored to the market in which the ASC resides, with selected introduction to those services to target audiences within a 20-minute radius of the ASC, management can create opportunities and profits for the ASC. It is a vital and continual process that must be revisited oen to keep the ASC profitable. n Mr. Zasa is one of the Managing Partners of ASD Management, am- bulatory business developers who have consulted, owned and managed ASCs throughout the U.S. for over 20 years with offices in Dana Point, Calif., Chicago, and Dallas. Rzasa@asdmanagement.com 10 Statistics on ASC Shareholder Equity By Laura Dyrda H ere are 10 statistics on surgery center shareholder equity based on data from the VMG Health Multi- Specialty ASC Intellimarker 2017. Shareholder equity: 1. Mean: $2.3 million 2. 25th percentile: $1 million 3. Median: $1.8 million 4. 75th percentile: $2.8 million 5. 90th percentile: $4.5 million Shareholder equity as a percentage of total assets: 6. Mean: 69.6 percent 7. 25th percentile: 65.4 percent 8. Median: 64.3 percent 9. 75th percentile: 67.8 percent 10. 90th percentile: 72.7 percent n