As president of the California Ambulatory Surgery Association and manager of the Davis (Calif.) Surgery Center, Shannon Blakeley is a vehement advocate of surgery centers. In a June interview with the Sacramento Business Journal, he argued that by paying surgery centers lower fees than hospitals receive, the state will effectively cut off care to injured workers and cause huge delays in the treatment process.
"We deselect [patients now]," Mr. Blakely said in the report. "If a Medicare patient requires costly implants or is too costly, we ask the physician to take them to the hospital. This is exactly what will happen."
He said that patients will suffer as a result of these changes: Costs will go up, and cheaper surgery centers will no longer be an option for many. "Access is going to be a huge issue," he said.
Mr. Blakely also works closely with National Surgical Care centers on business development, physician recruitment, financial management, operations and human resources issues. Before starting work with the NSC centers, he served as vice president at HealthSouth Corp., headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., where he created a continuum of care model for outpatient services, including outpatient surgery centers, diagnostic facilities and physical therapy centers.
Mr. Blakely has served on various sports medicine teams for professional and college athletic organizations.
Read the Sacramento Business Journal report on surgery centers and Shannon Blakeley.
"We deselect [patients now]," Mr. Blakely said in the report. "If a Medicare patient requires costly implants or is too costly, we ask the physician to take them to the hospital. This is exactly what will happen."
He said that patients will suffer as a result of these changes: Costs will go up, and cheaper surgery centers will no longer be an option for many. "Access is going to be a huge issue," he said.
Mr. Blakely also works closely with National Surgical Care centers on business development, physician recruitment, financial management, operations and human resources issues. Before starting work with the NSC centers, he served as vice president at HealthSouth Corp., headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., where he created a continuum of care model for outpatient services, including outpatient surgery centers, diagnostic facilities and physical therapy centers.
Mr. Blakely has served on various sports medicine teams for professional and college athletic organizations.
Read the Sacramento Business Journal report on surgery centers and Shannon Blakeley.