As surgical procedures migrate to the outpatient setting, it's essential for anesthesia practices to have a variety of service locations, such as ASCs, endoscopy centers and physician offices, according to Anesthesia Business Consultants' Jody Locke, MA.
Mr. Locke, the anesthesia and pain practice management services vice president, shared his insight on the metrics that are important when evaluating a venue's value to the practice.
Here are six takeaways:
1. The value of an anesthesia practice is defined by three factors: the average number of surgical or obstetric cases performed, the average acuity of cases and the effective net yield per unit.
2. Payment is determined by the net yield per unit billed.
3. It's important to track the ratio between cases performed by month and the total ASA units billed monthly. Practices should track average units per case by line of business.
4. For inpatient cases, the average community hospital bills about 13 units per case. For outpatient and ambulatory procedures, the number could fall between eight and 10. A typical endoscopy case only yields seven units per case, which could decrease if a proposed revaluation of the endoscopy codes takes effect in 2019.
5. Before entering into a contract with a less productive venue, a practice should thoroughly examine the profitability of its various lines of business over time.
6. Anesthesia practices must carefully manage their balance sheets, as success depends on productivity and effectively managing clinical resources.