November/December 2011 Issue of Becker's ASC Review

14 Achievable Goals for ASCs By Year’s End

Here are 14 goals ambulatory surgery centers can work to achieve by the end of 2011, as identified by Joan Dentler, president of ASC Strategies; Reed Martin, chief operating officer of Surgical Management Professionals; and Joseph Zasa, managing and founding partner of ASD Management. Click to continue »

10 Ways to Get Paid More for ASC Procedures

Mary Ryan, administrator of Tri-State Surgery Center in Dubuque, Iowa, managed by Health Inventures, shares 10 steps to negotiate profitable contracts and make money on every procedure. Click to continue »

150 Physician Leaders in the ASC Industry

Here is a list of 150 physician leaders who have made significant contributions to the ambulatory surgery center industry. Note: Physicians are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Navigate the profiles via the Article Index provided above, which groups physicians by first letter of last name. Click to continue »

Publisher's Letter

The final Becker’s ASC Review for 2011 is a robust issue full of practical guidance to help you and your ASC as you finish the year. Click to continue »

Best Practices for ASCs in a Bad Economy: Q&A with Mike Lipomi at Surgical Management Professionals

Mike Lipomi is president and CEO of Surgical Management Professionals in Sioux Falls, S.D. Click to continue »

6 Reasons Why Independent Hospitals and ASCs Face Similar Challenges on a Different Scale

1. Each is deathly afraid of their key admitting physicians being hired by competitors. Most independent hospitals are very reliant on their top 25 admitting physicians. Most ASCs are very reliant on their top 5-7 admitting physicians. Click to continue »

Current and Future State of Pain Management: Q&A With Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians

Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, is the chairman of the board and CEO of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) and the Society of Interventional Pain Management Surgery Centers (SIPMS); medical director of the Pain Management Center of Paducah (Ky.); and associate clinical professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Click to continue »

Blue Shield of California Recommends Use of ASCs Over Hospitals

Blue Shield of California recommends the use of a network ambulatory surgery center over a network hospital for outpatient surgery as a way to save money in an article in its Sept. Now I Know newsletter. Click to continue »

Adding a Total Joint Program to a Surgery Center: Q&A With John Brock of NorthStar Surgical Center

John D. Brock, administrator for the NorthStar Surgical Center, discusses his surgery center's new program and why it was the right time for the facility to expand its offerings. Click to continue »

10 Ways a Surgery Center’s Budget Can Go Awry

It's budget-planning season for many ambulatory surgery centers, and that includes the ASCs for Meridian Surgical Partners. Click to continue »

50 Benchmarks on ASC Case Volume

Here are 50 benchmarking statistics on surgery center case volume, according to data from VMG Health's Multi-Specialty ASC Intellimarker 2010. Click to continue »

Forming a Surgery Center State Association: Q&A With Todd Currier of Wyoming ASC Association

Todd Currier is the first president of the Wyoming Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, which recently announced its formation. Click to continue »

CMS Allows Unrestricted Same-Day Surgery for ASCs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has reversed its long-standing limitation on surgery centers performing procedures on the day they are scheduled, according to an Ambulatory Surgery Center Association release (pdf). Click to continue »

How to Improve Patient, Physician and Employee Satisfaction at an ASC

Most satisfaction issues within an ambulatory surgery center come down to time, says Kris Sabo, executive director of Pend Oreille Center in Ponderay, Idaho, where the patient satisfaction rates are routinely at or above 97 percent. Click to continue »

6 Thoughts on Private Equity Groups Investing in ASCs

Blayne Rush, president of Ambulatory Alliances, shares six thoughts on the future of private equity groups investing in ambulatory surgery centers. Click to continue »

FAQs About Outsourcing ASC Billing & Collections: Q&A With Caryl Serbin of SourceMedical

Caryl Serbin, RN, BSN, LHRN, is executive vice president and chief strategy officer for SourceMedical. Click to continue »

20 Benchmarks for Large ASCs

Here are 20 benchmarking statistics for surgery centers with more than four ORs, according to data from VMG Health's 2010 Multi-Specialty ASC Intellimarker. Click to continue »

6 Steps to Build a Compensation Plan for ASC Employees

John Merski Jr., executive director of human resources for MedHQ, discusses six steps ambulatory surgery center leaders should take to build a compensation plan for each ASC employee. Click to continue »

125 of the Leading Gastroenterologists in America

Here are profiles of 125 of the leading gastroenterologists in the United States. They were selected for this list based on the awards they received from major organizations in the field, leadership in those organizations, work on professional publications and distinguished service in a GI ambulatory surgery center. Click to continue »

Top 10 Gastroenterologic Procedures in Surgery Centers by Volume

Here are the 10 most-performed gastroenterologic procedures in freestanding outpatient surgery centers in 2009, according to SDI's Free-standing Outpatient Surgery Centers Database (2009 data year). Procedures are listed by CPT code, long name description and total volume. Click to continue »

Implementing an EHR at an ASC: 5 Thoughts From Robert Lamont of the Surgery Center of Central PA

Implementing an electronic health record can be a daunting task for an ambulatory surgery center, considering the capital needed to purchase hardware and software, train employees and account for productivity loss during implementation. Click to continue »