July/August 2012 Issue of Becker's ASC Review

6 Case Volume & Expense Metrics to Manage in a Profitable Surgery Center

Case volume is the lifeblood of a successful center: Without it, operating rooms stay empty and robust reimbursement rates are much less useful. Click to continue »

Reaching Past the “Low-Hanging Fruit”: 5 Costs to Cut in Mature ASCs

If you've run a surgery center for a number of years, you have probably exhausted many cost-cutting options: standardizing supplies, cross-training staff, and compressing the surgical schedule, for example. Click to continue »

Dr. Raj Rao: 5 Points on How PPACA Will Affect Physicians

Spine Surgeon Raj Rao, MD, is professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and is also a major player in U.S. regulatory and health policy. Click to continue »

Publisher's Letter: July/August 2012

This issue of Becker’s ASC Review concentrates on cost-cutting, options for physician/hospital partnership and surgery center valuation — three of the biggest issues facing our industry. Click to continue »

5 Management Problems Plaguing Unprofitable Surgery Centers

Ellen M. Johnson, Chief Operating Officer for Facility Development & Management, LLC discusses the problems that most commonly necessitate a surgery center turnaround. Click to continue »

66 ASC Management & Development Company CEOs to Know

Here are 66 CEOs of ambulatory surgery center management and development companies. Click to continue »

6 Steps to Building a Bonus Program for ASC Administrators, Clinical Directors and Staff

The question in today's healthcare market should not be, "Should we offer incentive bonuses?" says Greg Zoch, managing director and partner with Kaye-Bassman. Click to continue »

154 Orthopedic- and Spine-Driven ASCs to Know

Here are 154 orthopedic- and spine-driven ambulatory surgery centers to know. Click to continue »

5 Steps for Optimizing Key ASC Benchmarks

Every surgery center keeps track of their statistics and has access to data from other centers, compiled either by an outside source or their management company. Click to continue »

32 Statistics on Surgery Center Operating Expenses

Here are 32 statistics on surgery center operating expenses, according to VMG Health's Multi-Specialty ASC Intellimarker 2011. Click to continue »

5 Factors That Attract Physician Investors to Surgery Centers

Surgery centers immersed in physician recruitment should focus on anticipating and meeting the prospective physician's needs, says Blayne Rush, president of Ambulatory Alliances, a management firm that focuses on surgery center brokerage and physician recruitment. Click to continue »

Why Are Your Physicians Taking Cases Elsewhere? 5 Signs of Disengagement

Increasing pressures in the outpatient surgery setting — ranging from regulations and quality measures to issues surrounding payors and reimbursement. Click to continue »

6 Strategies for Seamless Surgery Center Expansion

Traci Albers, administrator at High Pointe Surgery Center in Lake Elmo, Minn., and Linda Phillips, RN, administrator at Southgate Surgery Center in Southgate, Mich., discuss strategies for completing an organized and profitable ambulatory surgery expansion. Click to continue »

Trending Toward Hospital Employment: Where Do Spine Surgeons Fit? Q&A With Dr. Robert Bray

Robert S. Bray, Jr., MD, a neurosurgeon and the CEO of DISC Sports & Spine Center in Marina del Rey, Calif., discusses the past, present and future state of spine surgeon employment. Click to continue »

10 Steps to Increase the Value of a Surgery Center

Hospital mergers and acquisitions increased 12 percent in 2011, according to a Levin Associates report, with surgery center deals following suit. Click to continue »

8 Steps to Maximize the Price of Your Surgery Center

Joan Dentler, president and CEO of Outpatient Strategies and ASC Strategies, discusses the key steps for physician owners when selling part or all of their surgery center to a hospital or corporate partner. Click to continue »

Building a Physician-Hospital Joint Venture Overseas: 6 Points on Regent Surgical Health’s Irish Partnership

In December 2010, Regent Surgical Health CEO Tom Mallon received an email from an overseas hospital consultant. Click to continue »

Health Inventures Expands Business With New Service Lines

Surgery center management and development company Health Inventures is diversifying its business with the addition of several new service lines, according to Christian Ellison, senior vice president. Click to continue »

4 Options for Physician/Hospital Partnership: Thoughts From Dr. Chuck Peck of Health Inventures

Hospitals and physicians are increasingly looking to partner in the face of healthcare reform, reimbursement reductions and market saturation. Click to continue »

10 Statistics on the Ambulatory Surgery Center Industry

Here are 10 statistics on the surgery center industry in the United States, according to VMG Health's Multi-Specialty ASC Intellimarker 2011. Click to continue »

Expanding Health Inventures Past ASC Management & Development: Q&A With Senior Vice President Christian Ellison

ASC management and development company Health Inventures is in the midst of major changes. Click to continue »

5 Tactics to Negotiate Better Reimbursement Rates for ASC Orthopedic Cases

Orthopedic cases rely on successful payor contracts to be profitable, due to high implant costs that can quickly derail profitability from a good reimbursement rate. Click to continue »

Aetna Files $20M Lawsuit Against California ASC Company for Alleged Overbilling

Insurance company Aetna has filed a $20 million lawsuit against a Northern California surgery center firm, claiming the company is overbilling the payor, according to a Sacramento Bee report. Click to continue »

Negotiating Reimbursement in Office-Based Surgery Centers: Q&A with Dr. Cory Lessner and Dr. Andrew Shatz of SightTrust Eye Institute

Surgeons at SightTrust Eye Institute, a recently opened freestanding surgery center in Sunrise, Fla., will perform cataract and premium intraocular lens procedures despite the fact that such procedures are not typically recognized or reimbursed by payors if performed in a physician's office. Click to continue »

5 Things to Know About Acquiring an O-Arm for Spine ASCs

Michael J. Musacchio, Jr., MD, and John H. Peloza, MD, opened their ambulatory surgery center, Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery, last October with a vision of incorporating emerging technologies that would rival any hospital operating room. Click to continue »