Snellville, Ga.-based Gwinnett Advanced Surgery Center and Atlanta-based Dunwoody Surgery Center Administrator Joseph D'Agostino shared his insights on price transparency with Becker's ASC Review.
Question: What sort of benefits do ASCs reap from making their procedure prices readily available?
Joseph D'Agostino: The ability to educate both the surgeon and the patient on true out of pocket cost differences between choosing to have their procedure performed in a hospital outpatient department versus a freestanding ASC.
Q: Are there any drawbacks to making price data available?
JD: Readily available procedure pricing data is mostly beneficial for ASC’s as a whole, there may be some instances where competitive pricing may artificially drive down the true ability for an ASC to offer the lower cost surgery alternative while balancing appropriate profit margins to stay in business, however.
Q: What would you say to an ASC administrator or physician debating making their pricing data available?
JD: It's a case by case basis — I would have a sit down discussion with the pricing strategy they are thinking about implementing.
Learn more from Mr. D'Agostino at the 24th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs in October 2017. Click here for more information.