Mike Madewell, administrator of Panama City (Fla.) Surgery Center, a Nueterra facility, identifies three ways ambulatory surgery centers can improve relations with the surgeon's office.
1. Don't make the surgeon's office do your work. If you want the office's full cooperation, "aim to provide superior customer service," Mr. Madewell says. For example, rather than rely on the surgeon's office to provide insurance verification for the patient, the ASC should do that on its own. "When you require them to do all your filtering for you, they are going to balk," he says. "They'll take the path of least resistance, which is scheduling the case at the hospital."
2. Make it easy to schedule time. It should be easy for a physician to schedule surgery time outside of his usual block time. Two weeks before the day of surgery, Mr. Madewell's center sends a list of open shifts to the surgeon's office. "This gives him more flexibility and improves the chances that he till use the ASC," Mr. Madewell says.
3. Coax prompt information transmission. Try to break the surgeon's office of the habit of sending patient information to the ASC in batches at the end of the day. This is often too late for GI and pain procedures, which may be scheduled as early as the next day or two. Ask the surgeon's office to send the patient's history and physical and insurance information directly after the surgeon sees the patient. "Make it as easy for them to send the information over," Mr. Madewell says. "Say to them, 'You don't have to call first, just fax it.' "
Read more ASC ideas for improvement:
- 7 Common Patient Complaints About Surgery Centers – and How to Prevent Them
- 10 Steps to Take a Single-Specialty ASC to a Multi-Specialty ASC
- 10 Proven Surgery Center Cost Cutting Measures