Bonnie Goodwin, administrator of Tallahassee (Fla.) Outpatient Surgery Center, discusses her center's expansion and where she sees the best opportunities for the future.
Question: What initiative are you most proud of at your ASC over the past 12 to 18 months?
Bonnie Goodwin: I am most proud of implementing a successful total joint program and spine program in 2018. We finished our additional two OR expansion in May of 2018 and did our first total knee. Since then we have added total hips and additional spine cases to the mix.
Q: How do you make sure your team is motivated for continued success and growth of the ASC?
BG: This continues to be a challenge as the complexity of the cases increase and the physicians are expecting to keep the operating rooms running until 5 p.m. We routinely will run five rooms until 5 p.m. and one room until 6:30 p.m. and the challenge has been staffing the OR with 10-hour shifts. We have been fortunate to have support from our physician partners and corporate partner who continually look for ways to motivate staff to keep them engaged.
Q: What are your best practices for meeting revenue cycle benchmarks?
BG: To meet our revenue cycle benchmarks, we have recently engaged our centralized billing office who have been meeting those benchmarks of days in accounts receivable, collection percentages, etc.
Q: Where do you see your center growing in the second half of 2019 and beyond?
BG: The physicians are very excited about the 23-hour stay that just recently passed in Florida and the possibilities it will bring. We have had a great 2019 so far with our joint and spine cases picking up and expect to continue the trend.
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