Here are four goals every ASC should work toward in order to minimize ASC costs, according to the leadership team of HealthOne, a healthcare system in Denver that includes 12 surgery centers.
1. Strategize staffing hours. Since staffing costs are generally accepted to be one of the two highest overhead costs of any facility, ASCs should target this as an area of focus to streamline. Julie Martin, assistant vice president for surgical services for all three HealthOne campuses, says HealthOne strives to find a perfect balance in adequate staffing in order to minimize labor costs. This staffing balance will differ from ASC to ASC, but physician-owners and administrators should work diligently to staff their ASCs based on volume.
"The challenge here is that ASCs still want to retain great staff so you're trying to ensure that staff members get their hours and still meet productivity standards," Ms. Martin says.
Ms. Martin adds cross-training and floating staff between different departments and facilities is a great way to reduce staffing hours and costs.
2. Streamline supply costs. Shirley Gay, director for Northern Centennial Campus for HealthOne, says HealthOne leaders are working toward specializing and gearing facilities toward one specialty at different venues to ensure costs for patient care are not being duplicated. By doing so, HealthOne will avoid the necessity of buying special equipment for every surgical site.
3. Analyze operational expenses and financial budgets on a regular basis. Directors of HealthOne surgery centers have access to a monthly report of operational expenses across their surgery centers. The monthly report allows directors to closely assess where expenses are being distributed and react accordingly if any changes to operational expenses need to be made. Ms. Martin says HealthOne also works on financial budgets by assessing monthly run-rate utilization and average increases in medical supply costs.
"When we are talking about expenses and working on our financial budgets, we also make adjustments. So, if I know I'm getting a new surgeon in the middle of the year, I'll fix the budget based on what kind of surgeon we're bringing on the board. For the most part, financial budgets are trended over 18 months," she says.
4. Offer block scheduling. Ms. Martin says ASCs should work to offer block scheduling so physicians can stack their cases in a more efficient manner. This is directly tied to labor costs and is one the most predictable cost indicators.
"When a new surgeon comes on, they request block time. If it's available, we allow him to have that time, and he has it going forward," Ms. Martin says. "For example, by doing block scheduling, a physician's office can know that every Monday, they have block time at a certain time at one of our surgery centers. Physicians know then that we don't put anybody else on those block times."
Ms. Martin adds that physicians are cognizant of the expectation they utilize a majority of their assigned block time, which is at approximately 75 percent.
Learn more about HealthOne.
1. Strategize staffing hours. Since staffing costs are generally accepted to be one of the two highest overhead costs of any facility, ASCs should target this as an area of focus to streamline. Julie Martin, assistant vice president for surgical services for all three HealthOne campuses, says HealthOne strives to find a perfect balance in adequate staffing in order to minimize labor costs. This staffing balance will differ from ASC to ASC, but physician-owners and administrators should work diligently to staff their ASCs based on volume.
"The challenge here is that ASCs still want to retain great staff so you're trying to ensure that staff members get their hours and still meet productivity standards," Ms. Martin says.
Ms. Martin adds cross-training and floating staff between different departments and facilities is a great way to reduce staffing hours and costs.
2. Streamline supply costs. Shirley Gay, director for Northern Centennial Campus for HealthOne, says HealthOne leaders are working toward specializing and gearing facilities toward one specialty at different venues to ensure costs for patient care are not being duplicated. By doing so, HealthOne will avoid the necessity of buying special equipment for every surgical site.
3. Analyze operational expenses and financial budgets on a regular basis. Directors of HealthOne surgery centers have access to a monthly report of operational expenses across their surgery centers. The monthly report allows directors to closely assess where expenses are being distributed and react accordingly if any changes to operational expenses need to be made. Ms. Martin says HealthOne also works on financial budgets by assessing monthly run-rate utilization and average increases in medical supply costs.
"When we are talking about expenses and working on our financial budgets, we also make adjustments. So, if I know I'm getting a new surgeon in the middle of the year, I'll fix the budget based on what kind of surgeon we're bringing on the board. For the most part, financial budgets are trended over 18 months," she says.
4. Offer block scheduling. Ms. Martin says ASCs should work to offer block scheduling so physicians can stack their cases in a more efficient manner. This is directly tied to labor costs and is one the most predictable cost indicators.
"When a new surgeon comes on, they request block time. If it's available, we allow him to have that time, and he has it going forward," Ms. Martin says. "For example, by doing block scheduling, a physician's office can know that every Monday, they have block time at a certain time at one of our surgery centers. Physicians know then that we don't put anybody else on those block times."
Ms. Martin adds that physicians are cognizant of the expectation they utilize a majority of their assigned block time, which is at approximately 75 percent.
Learn more about HealthOne.