Here are 12 ways ambulatory surgery center leaders plan to improve the experience of their ASC physicians in 2012.
1. Plan free monthly, educational seminars for patients. John D. Brock, administrator for NorthStar Surgical Center in Lubbock, Texas, says his ASC will provide free monthly, educational seminars to give physicians "the venue to educate potential patients on new and existing procedures and treatment methods for various health issues such as incontinence, migraines and joint replacement," he says.
2. Offer latest and best equipment. Mr. Brock says he plans to offer physicians the most current and technologically advanced equipment and instrumentation. "This is to ensure that they are able to provide the highest level of care to our patients," Mr. Brock says.
3. Provide educational materials. Chuck Brown, administrator of Bidwell Surgery Center, a Health Inventures ASC in Middletown, Ohio, says his ASC is working to keep physicians "abreast of the constant updates and possible regulatory changes and their impact on the healthcare environment via newsletters, email updates and locker room discussions."
4. Ensure convenience. Mr. Brown says he and the Bidwell Surgery Center staff members will continue to work to make the surgery center as convenient as possible for them. "The intent is [to] be an extension of their office practice," he says. "We keep in constant contact with their schedulers, managers, etc., to foster a relationship and help in any way we legally can."
5. Streamline the credentialing process. Christopher Collins, RN, BSHCA, administrator/director of nursing for NJSR Surgical Center in Pompton Lakes, N.J., says NJSR is considering a new program to streamline the credentialing process to improve new physician throughput by "creating PDF forms that can be completed online, e-fax and email submissions of documents and an improved verification process," he says.
6. Add a specialty. Mr. Collins says NJSR Surgical Center will be expanding its breadth of operations to include orthopedic cases, starting in Dec. 2011. "The associated equipment required, the staff training and the additional surgical day will not only improve our physician cadre, but our bottom line," he says.
7. Update and enhance ASC's website. Todd Currier, CMPE, CPA, administrator for Northern Wyoming Surgical Center in Cody, says his ASC recently updated and enhanced its website. "It includes all the physicians that utilize our facility with pictures, bios and links to their own websites," he says. "As we have seen a downturn in the economy, it has become more apparent that the patient population needs to choose a physician that utilizes our facility, and any way we can enhance our physician's exposure within the community can only assist our facility.
"In that light, we will continue to modify our website to provide useful information on all of our physicians and push our press/radio advertisements to use our website for more information," Mr. Currier says. "In addition we will be proving details, videos and information for common procedures performed within our facility."
8. Develop monthly newsletter for medical staff. In 2011, Mr. Currier says Northern Wyoming Surgical Center instituted a quarterly newsletter to its medical staff. In 2012, the center will start sending the newsletter every month. "[The newsletter] illustrates the positive areas within our ASC, patient satisfaction quotes and areas that are in need for improvement — both at the facility level and physician level," he says. "I feel we need to keep our providers abreast of the changes that affect our ASC on a timely basis, not waiting too long to make changes. Areas such as on-time starts, staffing changes that may affect them, instrumentation changes/standardization issues, equipment needs/concerns will all be addressed on a monthly basis. These issues will be presented as more in a briefing format to minimize reading time. Monthly visits with individual physician can address any of the issues in more detail."
9. Accommodate all cases. Regina Robinson, RN, MBA, CMPE, CASC, director of
Peninsula Surgery Center in Newport News, Va., says her ASC will continue to try hard to meet the expectations of its surgeons by working any of their cases into the schedule, whether the cases are the same day or not. "We fit the patients in, and the surgeons have become flexible knowing this is occurring, especially when they are the ones looking to add a last minute case," she says.
10. Maintain flexible start times. Ms. Robinson says her ASC is working to allow physicians to customize their start times while keeping the OR schedule in line and efficient. "The surgeon owners are flexible to allow non-owners to book their cases before them, which makes everyone happy," she says.
11. Keep schedulers informed of open block time. Amy McKiernan, RN, nursing administrator for Louisville (Ky.) Surgery Center, an ASD Management facility, says her ASC is working to make sure all available open time at the ASC is announced to physicians' schedulers. "So that [way], if they want to add a case here or there, we can accommodate them.
12. Inquire about interest in new instruments. Ms. McKiernan says her ASC will be asking if there are any new instruments the physicians would like the surgery center to consider acquiring. "Our ENT docs are always coming up with something they would like to have that does not always show to be cost effective, but giving them one special 'toy,' if it is not too expensive, will make them happy," she says. "Showing them ways we save on monthly or quarterly basis gets them excited, too."
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