Organizations representing thousands of employers sent a letter to every ASC in the U.S. May 4 asking them to participate in the Leapfrog ASC Survey.
The Health Transformation Alliance, ERISA Industry Committee, National Alliance of Health Care Purchaser Coalitions and Business Group on Health sent the letter, emphasizing their reliance on results for quality and safety performance data.
"Our organizations consult results from the Leapfrog ASC survey to inform patient referral preferences, benefit designs and direct contracting considerations. Without your survey participation, we will not have this critical data on your quality and safety performance," wrote the groups, which represent more than 12,000 employers insuring 55 million lives.
The plea from employer groups comes at a time when large employers are reaching out more for direct contracting with ASCs. As insurance companies raise prices and the cost of care increases, ASCs are beginning to contract directly with employers to provide lower cost services.
But some in the ASC industry are wary of Leapfrog. The organization launched its ASC survey in 2019 with mixed results. Many of the questions were designed for hospitals and evaluated ASCs on quality criteria not required by Medicare or other accrediting bodies.
The first survey included responses from 321 ASCs and 1,141 hospital outpatient departments.
Leapfrog updated its ASC survey for 2021 after receiving more than 150 comments for improvement. The organization added questions on minimum procedure and surgeon volume, and developed a new ASC-specific section for nurses. Leapfrog also added questions to gauge whether centers practice ethical billing and work to address disparities in care.