John Henley, MD, is medical director of the Fayetteville (N.C.) Ambulatory Surgery Center, which has 11 ORs and three treatment centers. He also sits on the board of 637-bed Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville and is on the physician leadership team of Surgical Care Affiliates, which operates the ASC. Dr. Henley, an otolaryngologist, talks about an ASC's role in accountable care organizations.
Q: What role would your ASC have in an accountable care organization?
John Henley: Not much is known yet about how ACOs would function, but basically it seems they'll require strong alignment between hospitals and physicians. There is a lot of cooperation between both sides. I'm on the board of the hospital and two hospital executives are on the board of the ASC. Surgical Care Affiliates owns about half of the surgery center, but the rest is split between the hospital and physicians.
Q: It appears that ACOs will have to have electronic medical records. Does your ASC have one?
JH: No, and I'm not sure how useful an EMR is in a surgery center. As a surgeon, the only thing I need is the op note. The hospital is pretty far along in installing an EMR and some practices in the area have it. I know SCA has been considering EMRs for its ASCs.
Q: Is the hospital planning to start an ACO?
JH: On the hospital board, we have just started to talk about ACOs. Before the hospital moves forward, there's got to be some guidance regarding what these ACOs look like and need to do. My impression is that it could take four or five years before ACOs are set up.
Q: Do you think ACOs are a good thing?
JH: There is going to be consolidation of the healthcare industry. If you're not working together you're not going to efficient and you're not going to provide cost-effective care. But the devil is in the details. We'll have to see how ASCs pan out.
Q: What do you think about the idea of paying the ASC a bundled payment of all care?
JH: I have concerns about that. I can just imagine the physician group's reaction if the payments are given to the hospital and the hospital decides how it is going to be allotted. It should be up to the ACO and everybody in the ACO should have a seat at the table.
Learn more about Fayetteville Ambulatory Surgery Center.
Learn more about Surgical Care Affiliates.
Q: What role would your ASC have in an accountable care organization?
John Henley: Not much is known yet about how ACOs would function, but basically it seems they'll require strong alignment between hospitals and physicians. There is a lot of cooperation between both sides. I'm on the board of the hospital and two hospital executives are on the board of the ASC. Surgical Care Affiliates owns about half of the surgery center, but the rest is split between the hospital and physicians.
Q: It appears that ACOs will have to have electronic medical records. Does your ASC have one?
JH: No, and I'm not sure how useful an EMR is in a surgery center. As a surgeon, the only thing I need is the op note. The hospital is pretty far along in installing an EMR and some practices in the area have it. I know SCA has been considering EMRs for its ASCs.
Q: Is the hospital planning to start an ACO?
JH: On the hospital board, we have just started to talk about ACOs. Before the hospital moves forward, there's got to be some guidance regarding what these ACOs look like and need to do. My impression is that it could take four or five years before ACOs are set up.
Q: Do you think ACOs are a good thing?
JH: There is going to be consolidation of the healthcare industry. If you're not working together you're not going to efficient and you're not going to provide cost-effective care. But the devil is in the details. We'll have to see how ASCs pan out.
Q: What do you think about the idea of paying the ASC a bundled payment of all care?
JH: I have concerns about that. I can just imagine the physician group's reaction if the payments are given to the hospital and the hospital decides how it is going to be allotted. It should be up to the ACO and everybody in the ACO should have a seat at the table.
Learn more about Fayetteville Ambulatory Surgery Center.
Learn more about Surgical Care Affiliates.