Virginia Feldman, MD, chairperson of Hudson Valley Ambulatory Surgery in Middletown, N.Y., discusses how the big changes in healthcare will impact ambulatory surgery centers.
Q: There have been several changes in the healthcare system over the past few years and there will likely be more going forward. How can ambulatory surgery centers prepare for potential changes in the future?
Dr. Virginia Feldman: As any company preparing itself for massive industry-wide changes, there are a number of general concepts that make good corporate sense for surgery centers. Decreasing debt and overhead while managing purchasing power will help to solidify the company. Additionally, surgery centers should encourage a culture within their company that appropriately reflects its mission.
Q: What will it take for ambulatory surgery centers to really stabilize themselves within the healthcare system as well as the individual regions of the country?
VF: Unaligned surgery centers should consider aligning with a hospital or management company in order to stabilize themselves. The market is changing and becoming increasingly unstable, making it more difficult for surgery centers to be independently successful. If they can plug into a system that allows for purchasing power and renegotiations with insurance companies, even with just minority interest in the ASC, this can be a significant stabilizer.
Q: Many surgery centers are seeing accountable care organizations begin to form in their markets. Should they seek to become part of the ACO? How can they survive in a market with ACOs?
VF: ACOs' current main focus is primary care. Depending on market penetration, the next layer is surgeons and where they take their cases. It's difficult to say what the ACO will really look like, but going back to the basics with a focus on strategy and tactics that keep your company healthy should be emphasized.
Quality reporting will be a huge benefit to surgeons when ACOs are present. Primary care physicians must show that they refer surgeons who take their cases to a facility with low cost and best practices. Many primary care physicians are not currently asking these types of questions today, but will begin asking them soon. Prepared surgeons who can quickly and efficiently provide answers will ultimately succeed.
Q: Are there any other changes in the market ASCs should understand in their strategic plans for success going forward?
VF: With or without ACOs penetrating the marking, one specific change with Affordable Care Act will be the pressure on physicians to align with big multispecialty groups or hospital systems. It is critical for surgery centers to remain an option in the face of that alignment.
ASCs can avoid being overlooked by being forward thinking and having quality reporting capabilities. ASCs must be using electronic medical records if they are not already. They should ensure the practice management system has streamlined reporting mechanisms that allow for readily available generated reports on outcomes, patient satisfaction, among other measures. This will allow for ASCs to better position and better market themselves.
Q: As you mentioned, there is a big shift toward consolidation in the industry. How can surgery centers continue to operate independently within this trend?
VF: ASCs should take a step back and examine their current relationships with physicians, potential investors, as well as local hospitals and multispecialty groups. It is important to be realistic as to what is driving referral patterns. Some referral patterns are changing as surgeons and primary care physicians are aligning themselves with hospitals and multispecialty groups.
ASCs need to become part of the bigger vision of their community needs. Surgery centers must connect with significant partners and align with local hospital physicians. Hospitals look to care for patients in a low cost setting and if ASCs become the low cost option for their local hospitals, it becomes a mutually beneficial situation. Hospitals can fill beds with higher acuity patients and direct other patients to the ASC.
More Articles on Surgery Centers:
5 Steps to Optimize Online Marketing for ASCs
8 Steps for Surgery Centers to Get Out of Debt & Stay There
8 Steps to Quicker Turnover Time in ASCs
Q: There have been several changes in the healthcare system over the past few years and there will likely be more going forward. How can ambulatory surgery centers prepare for potential changes in the future?
Dr. Virginia Feldman: As any company preparing itself for massive industry-wide changes, there are a number of general concepts that make good corporate sense for surgery centers. Decreasing debt and overhead while managing purchasing power will help to solidify the company. Additionally, surgery centers should encourage a culture within their company that appropriately reflects its mission.
Q: What will it take for ambulatory surgery centers to really stabilize themselves within the healthcare system as well as the individual regions of the country?
VF: Unaligned surgery centers should consider aligning with a hospital or management company in order to stabilize themselves. The market is changing and becoming increasingly unstable, making it more difficult for surgery centers to be independently successful. If they can plug into a system that allows for purchasing power and renegotiations with insurance companies, even with just minority interest in the ASC, this can be a significant stabilizer.
Q: Many surgery centers are seeing accountable care organizations begin to form in their markets. Should they seek to become part of the ACO? How can they survive in a market with ACOs?
VF: ACOs' current main focus is primary care. Depending on market penetration, the next layer is surgeons and where they take their cases. It's difficult to say what the ACO will really look like, but going back to the basics with a focus on strategy and tactics that keep your company healthy should be emphasized.
Quality reporting will be a huge benefit to surgeons when ACOs are present. Primary care physicians must show that they refer surgeons who take their cases to a facility with low cost and best practices. Many primary care physicians are not currently asking these types of questions today, but will begin asking them soon. Prepared surgeons who can quickly and efficiently provide answers will ultimately succeed.
Q: Are there any other changes in the market ASCs should understand in their strategic plans for success going forward?
VF: With or without ACOs penetrating the marking, one specific change with Affordable Care Act will be the pressure on physicians to align with big multispecialty groups or hospital systems. It is critical for surgery centers to remain an option in the face of that alignment.
ASCs can avoid being overlooked by being forward thinking and having quality reporting capabilities. ASCs must be using electronic medical records if they are not already. They should ensure the practice management system has streamlined reporting mechanisms that allow for readily available generated reports on outcomes, patient satisfaction, among other measures. This will allow for ASCs to better position and better market themselves.
Q: As you mentioned, there is a big shift toward consolidation in the industry. How can surgery centers continue to operate independently within this trend?
VF: ASCs should take a step back and examine their current relationships with physicians, potential investors, as well as local hospitals and multispecialty groups. It is important to be realistic as to what is driving referral patterns. Some referral patterns are changing as surgeons and primary care physicians are aligning themselves with hospitals and multispecialty groups.
ASCs need to become part of the bigger vision of their community needs. Surgery centers must connect with significant partners and align with local hospital physicians. Hospitals look to care for patients in a low cost setting and if ASCs become the low cost option for their local hospitals, it becomes a mutually beneficial situation. Hospitals can fill beds with higher acuity patients and direct other patients to the ASC.
More Articles on Surgery Centers:
5 Steps to Optimize Online Marketing for ASCs
8 Steps for Surgery Centers to Get Out of Debt & Stay There
8 Steps to Quicker Turnover Time in ASCs