Here are seven updates for ASC leaders to know for March 1, 2018.
Cook Children's Northeast Hospital closing to become ASC — NueHealth serving as joint venture partner
Hurst, Texas-based Cook Children's Northeast Hospital will close as a hospital April 20, and become an ASC operating under the name Cook Children's Surgery Center soon thereafter. The hospital is transitioning into an ASC because it failed to meet CMS' overnight census requirement to operate as a hospital.
Billing delays at Powder River Surgery Center cost health system up to $200k in Medicaid payments
Computer issues at Gillette, Wyo.-based Powder River Surgery Center delayed some Medicaid bills more than a year, costing Gillette-based Campbell County Health between $150,000 and $200,000 in missed Medicaid payments. The health system had to upgrade the center's billing software, which took 11 months to complete. The surgery center billed manually during that time.
Indianapolis pain practice looks to expand Midwest presence with private equity investment
Indianapolis-based American Pain Consortium Holding closed a large round of private equity funding and is looking to expand its Midwest presence as a result. JPMorgan is providing approximately $21 million in financing. APCH seeks to provide a variety of pain management services to pain management practices and ASCs across the Midwest.
USPI revenue jumps 6.9% in Q4
Tenet Healthcare reported its fourth quarter 2017 financial results. Net losses from continuing operations attributable to Tenet shareholders were $230 million, an increase when compared to the $79 million in net losses for the same period in 2016. Net operating revenues for the ambulatory segment were $545 million for the quarter, up 14 percent year over year.
Physician Partners of America, Dr. James St. Louis add Saturday hours for outpatient spine surgery
Since adding spine in January, Physician Partners of America has seen such demand for procedures that James St. Louis, DO, will add Saturday office hours beginning March 3. Dr. St. Louis joined PPOA in January and has already performed 50 outpatient spine procedures.
HealthEast Clinic & Specialty Center lands award for developer
St. Paul, Minn.-based HealthEast consolidated its offices in Maplewood to one central location, resulting in Maplewood, Minn.-based HealthEast Clinic & Specialty Center. The facility, which contains a surgery center, an imaging center and a pathology laboratory, landed real estate brokers Mark Davis, Jill Rasmussen and Michael Sharpe a top broker award from Finance and Commerce.
Physicians still spend more time with EHRs than with patients
In a study published in Family Medicine, researchers observed family physician attendees and residents as they interacted with patients during clinical visits. They discovered physicians spent a total of 19.3 minutes working on EHRs prior to, during and after the visits. Physicians spent 16.5 minutes of face time with patients.