In today's challenging healthcare climate, administrators need to figure out a way to ensure that their ambulatory surgery centers not only survive but also thrive. At Becker's ASC 21st Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, a panel of experts will discuss cost cutting and benchmarking strategies to improve ASC profits.
Ann B. Geier, MS, RN, CNOR, CASC, vice president, clinical informatics and surgery at SourceMedical, is one of the panelists. She weighs in on some of the most overlooked cost cutting strategies at ASCs as well as why benchmarking is important. The panel also includes Robert Westergard, CFO, Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America.
Question: What will be the focus of the session and what are you hoping attendees will get out of it?
Ann Geier: Case costing is critical to the success of the surgery center. If you don't know what it costs to do a case, you don't know if you're making money or if your payer contracts are covering the cost of doing the case. It allows the administrator to control supply and staff costs and to make the center as efficient as possible.
Q: What are some of the most overlooked cost reduction techniques at ASCs?
AG: The centers often do not load the inventory into the computer system because they think they are too busy to do this. It's the first and most critical step in being able to do case costing, and it cannot be overlooked.
Q: Why is benchmarking beneficial for ASCs?
AG: Benchmarking is an accreditation requirement, and it is directly related to being able to demonstrate an emphasis on providing quality care to the patients in the center. Financial benchmarking is a tool that allows the management team and the board of directors to see how they are doing compared to national, state and association benchmarks.
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Ann B. Geier, MS, RN, CNOR, CASC, vice president, clinical informatics and surgery at SourceMedical, is one of the panelists. She weighs in on some of the most overlooked cost cutting strategies at ASCs as well as why benchmarking is important. The panel also includes Robert Westergard, CFO, Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America.
Question: What will be the focus of the session and what are you hoping attendees will get out of it?
Ann Geier: Case costing is critical to the success of the surgery center. If you don't know what it costs to do a case, you don't know if you're making money or if your payer contracts are covering the cost of doing the case. It allows the administrator to control supply and staff costs and to make the center as efficient as possible.
Q: What are some of the most overlooked cost reduction techniques at ASCs?
AG: The centers often do not load the inventory into the computer system because they think they are too busy to do this. It's the first and most critical step in being able to do case costing, and it cannot be overlooked.
Q: Why is benchmarking beneficial for ASCs?
AG: Benchmarking is an accreditation requirement, and it is directly related to being able to demonstrate an emphasis on providing quality care to the patients in the center. Financial benchmarking is a tool that allows the management team and the board of directors to see how they are doing compared to national, state and association benchmarks.
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