Becker's ASC Review

11 ASC TURNAROUNDS ASCA rebukes 'sensationalized' story misrepresenting ASC safety By Eric Oliver T he Ambulatory Surgery Center Association rebuked a story by Kaiser Health News and USA Today question- ing ASC safety, saying it misrepresented the quality of outpatient surgery. Here's what you should know. 1. e news organizations conducted investigative reporting attempting to document the number of deaths and track qual- ity at surgery centers. Reporters examined autopsy records, legal filings as well as state and Medicaid inspection records. Reporters conducted several interviews with physicians, health policy experts and patients. KHN and USA Today referred to the reporting as the most extensive examination of these records to date, finding 260 patients died at surgery centers since 2013. ey spoke to the surviving family members of many of these patients. 2. ASCA rebuked the organization, saying they failed to report the whole story. ASCA CEO William Prentice said, "KHN and USA Today have done a terrible disservice to their readers in their article about ASCs by failing to accurately and responsibly report the high-quality, high-value outcomes occurring in ASCs today. By focusing their story on a relatively small number of tragic errors, while ignoring the overwhelming beneficial out- comes found in ASCs, they have created a false and misleading narrative about the safety and efficacy of outpatient surgery." 3. e news organizations noted there is no national author- ity tasked with tracking patient deaths at ASCs. ASCA said the story failed to note the more than 200 million procedures have been safely at surgery centers. 4. ASCA said the story also failed to quantify the events, mak- ing it appear as though surgery centers had a higher amount of adverse events than other service sites when they are among the sites with the lowest adverse event rates. "e implication that ASCs somehow pose a higher level of risk to the patients they serve is false and unsupported by both data and the medical literature," ASCA said. 5. Fort Collins, Colo.-based Harmony Surgery Center CEO Rebecca Craig, RN, said center physicians and staff "share in the loss and regret that accompanies any adverse medical event," but chided the article for failing to provide a surgical site com- parison rate and for failing to note that medical errors occur at all sites of care. She said, "While serious adverse events are rare in every setting, they are even rarer in ASCs because the model of care is based on using each patient's health history to assure the highest prob- ability of successful outcomes." n New York health system eliminating outpatient surgery due to freestanding surgery center proliferation — 5 insights By Eric Oliver U tica, N.Y.-based Mohawk Valley Health System will no longer perform outpatient surgery at its Faxton campus, WIBX 950 reports. Here's what you should know. 1. The campus is no longer offering outpatient surgeries due to an increased number of freestanding surgery cen- ters in the area. 2. MVHS will still provide outpatient surgery services at its St. Luke's and St. Elizabeth campuses, both in Utica. 3. The health system will stop accepting new outpatients and anticipates all outpatient surgery activity at its Faxton campus will cease between three months and six months from March. 4. The Faxton campus performed nearly 1,800 outpatient surgeries in 2017. 5. MVHS will transition the 44 employees associated with its outpatient surgery department to other roles.n Jury finds CRNA, North Star Anesthesia liable in man's death, awards family $1M By Eric Oliver A Mahoning County Common Pleas Court jury awarded the family of a deceased man $1 million af- ter finding a CRNA and Cincinnati-based North Star Anesthesia at least partially responsible for his death, The Vindicator reports. Here's what you should know. 1. The jurors ruled the actions of the CRNA and North Star at least partially contributed to the man's death. 2. The man underwent hip surgery. Two days after the surgery the CRNA allegedly failed to maintain his airway properly, which led to his eventual death. 3. The jury listened to five days of testimony before deliber- ating for 4.5 hours. 4. The surviving members of the man's estate were "pleased" with the verdict. n

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