Sept./Oct. 2010 Issue of Becker's ASC Review

5 Financial Implications Healthcare Reform Will Have on ASCs

Andrew Hayek, president and CEO of Surgical Care Affiliates and chairman of the ASC Advocacy Committee, discusses five key ways the healthcare reform law will affect ASCs. Click to continue »

6 Key Issues and Trends Impacting Outpatient Services and Physician-Owned Facilities

This article briefly addresses six key issues impacting outpatient services and physician-owned facilities. Click to continue »

CMS Releases 2011 ASC Proposed Rule: 7 Important Issues

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the CY 2011 proposed payment rule for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers. Click to continue »

Publisher’s Letter

17th Annual ASC Conference: The Best Business Speakers in the ASC Business – Registration Discounts End September 1. Click to continue »

12 Ways to Maximize Profits at Your ASC

Chris Bishop, senior vice president for acquisitions and business development at Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners in Cincinnati, provides 12 ways to maximize profits at your ASC. Click to continue »

Spine and Sports Medicine Surgeons Top List of Highest Paid Orthopedic Specialties

Here are seven statistics on orthopedic surgeon compensation by specialty from 2009 data, according to the MGMAPhysician Compensation and Production Survey: 2010 Report. Click to continue »

Growing Your ASC, the Path of Least Resistance: Top 4 Easiest Specialties to Transition Into an ASC

When looking to grow the number of cases in your ASC and enhance revenue, the size of a physician's practice along with the skill and efficiency of the surgeon are important factors to consider. Click to continue »

10 Best Practices for Recruiting New Partners to Your ASC

Larry Taylor, president and CEO of Practice Partners in Healthcare, offers 10 best practices on recruiting new physician-partners to an ASC. Click to continue »

Access to Physicians: 3 Major Challenges Facing ASCs

The survival and success of ASCs relies on recruiting physicians who can bring patients to the table, and having enough physicians and cases to keep ASCs profitable. Click to continue »

5 Ways ASCs Lose Money

Half of all ASCs in the country are either losing money or just breaking even, according to Brent Lambert, MD, president and owner of Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America. Click to continue »

5 Observations on the Future of ASCs From Dr. Neal Lintecum of Kansas’ Lawrence Surgery Center

Neal Lintecum, MD, an orthopedic hand surgeon, is chairman of the board of Lawrence (Kan.) Surgery Center. It has four ORs, about 18 physician-partners and hosts surgery in orthopedics, ENT, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, podiatry and urology. Click to continue »

7 Observations on ASC-Based EMR

ASC-based electronic medical records are very different from EMR in the physician's office or hospital, but the goal is to make all EMR systems, regardless of venue, interoperable with each other, so that records can be sent seamlessly. Click to continue »

Using Inventory Management and Technology to Increase Profits

Kimberly Tude Thout is the administrator of Yakima (Wash.) Ambulatory Surgical Center, a physician-owned, multi-specialty ASC. Click to continue »

Reducing ASC Chronic Technology Pain: 3 Rules to Contain IT Costs

Information technology is key to the operations of a surgery center. From front desk check-in and scheduling to medical imaging and materials management, and everything in between, IT does not represent a nice-to-have feature; it is a vital component of both business and clinical operations. Click to continue »

8 Tips for Managing Medical Equipment Software Updates and Upgrades

How would you define a medical equipment software update? How about a software upgrade? Answering these questions isn't so simple – it's difficult to define software updates versus upgrades because the answer varies based on the industry source, the type of device and the subjective description of the changes involved with each. Click to continue »

107 Great Women Leaders in the ASC Industry

Here are 107 great women leaders in the ASC industry, listed in alphabetical order. Click to continue »

New Jersey Regulators Approve Penalties for PIP Patients Using OON Centers

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance recently approved measures that will allow insurers to assess a penalty of up to 30 percent of eligible charges for Personal Injury Protection plan patients that use out-of-network ASCs. Click to continue »

ICD-10 Implementation for ASCs: What You Must Do Now

If you think you can wait until 2013 to evaluate your system processes and work protocols for the ICD-10 implementation, think again! Click to continue »

10 Steps for ASCs to Collect Full Payment After the Procedure is Performed

When analyzing the many components included in the reimbursement cycle, you recognize that there are two major divisions: prior to and after the procedure is performed. Click to continue »

3 Successful Managed Care Contract Negotiation Tactics (and One to Avoid)

Kevin Dowdy, director of managed care for Meridian Surgical Partners, shares three tactics to improve your chances at successful managed care contract negotiations, and one you should avoid. Click to continue »

3 Critical Mistakes Made When Reporting Modifier -59

Here are three common but critical mistakes made by ASC coders when using modifier -59, according to Cristina Bentin, principal of Coding Compliance Management. Click to continue »

3 Surprising Factors That Impact an ASC’s Value

Participants in the ASC industry are generally keenly aware of the common factors that can impact ASC valuation. Amongst others, these can include the number and age of physician owners, competition in the market, availability of new recruits, reimbursement pressure, facility and equipment needs and specialty mix. Click to continue »

Is the Independent Practice of Medicine Going the Way of the Dinosaur?

There is nothing new under the sun. Back in 1995, former surgery center executives were flying high buying physician practices for Phycor, MedPartners and other public and private companies. Click to continue »

5 Most Attractive ASC Specialties

Here are the five most attractive ASC specialties and some of the attributes that make them appealing platforms, according to the Astor Group's "Investment in the Healthcare Industry" white paper. Click to continue »

Using New Processes and Technologies to Maximize ASC Patient Collections

Many surgery centers attempt to collect the patient portion of a payment for services performed at a surgery center after the patient has left the ASC. This is clearly a recipe for bad debt, says Lindsay Miller, vice president of internal auditing at National Medical Billing Services. Click to continue »

Anesthesia Models Under Attack

Increasingly, surgery centers and practices related to surgery centers attempt to profit from the providing of anesthesia services. Click to continue »

5 Observations on Anesthesia in ASCs From Syed Ishaq of Somnia Anesthesia

Syed Ishaq, vice president for business development at Somnia Anesthesia Services in New Rochelle, N.Y., offers five observations on anesthesia in ASCs. Click to continue »

4 Ways ASCs Can Improve Relationships Between Surgeons and Anesthesiologists

Compared with hospitals, relationships between anesthesiologists and surgeons at ASCs are excellent, but there is also an elevated level of expectation at ASCs, says Thomas Wherry, MD, medical director of Health Inventures and principal for Total Anesthesia Solutions, a company dedicated to finding strategic solutions for issues relating to anesthesia care. Click to continue »

Impact of the Propofol Shortage on Anesthesiologists

Alexander A. Hannenberg, MD, president of American Society of Anesthesiologists discusses the current propofol shortage and other challenges facing anesthesiologists. Click to continue »

8 Ways GI Centers Can Prosper in the Next Five Years

Falling reimbursements and the specter of healthcare reform create an uncertain future for gastroenterology ASCs, says John Poisson, executive vice president & strategic partnerships officer at Physicians Endoscopy in Doylestown, Pa., which operates 20 GI centers across the country. Click to continue »

5 Statistics About Gastroenterologist Compensation by Years of Experience

Here are five statistics on gastroenterologist compensation based on years of experience in the specialty from 2009 data, according to the MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2010 Report. Click to continue »

4 Tips for Preventing Infection in Your ASC

Susan Bakewell, RN, AORN's director of perioperative education, and Bonnie Denholm, RN, MS, CNOR, perioperative nursing specialist, are passionate advocates of infection control in surgery centers. Click to continue »

Meeting AAAHC Standards for Reprocessing Single-Use Devices and Equipment

Jack Egnatinsky, MD, medical director of the AAAHC and a retired anesthesiologist, discusses what ASCs must do to meet AAAHC standards if they reprocess single-use devices and equipment. Click to continue »

Air Change Requirements in Ambulatory Surgical Facility Operating Rooms

Where air quality standards are applied to surgery facilities, they are based on requirements of the applicable State Health Department — almost always in relation to licensed healthcare facilities. Click to continue »