Some physicians have been operating small surgery centers as a convenience for their practices, but now they would like to upgrade them into money-making ventures. Here Bill Heath, chief development officer, Practice Partners in Healthcare, in Birmingham, Ala., provides six considerations when attempting to upgrade a convenience ASC into a money-making operation.
1. Understand your incentive to grow. Turning your center around will require bringing in partners, losing the total control you're used to and joining a cooperative enterprise. "It means having a smaller piece of a bigger pie," Mr. Heath says. "Which would you rather have? One hundred percent of a center that can only break even or a share of a center that is actually making a distribution?"
2. Evaluate existing business. "Sit down and get a handle on your existing business," Mr. Heath says. What additional volume could be brought in? Are there enough open slots in your schedule for more partners, or do you need to add extra days of operation? Are extra staff needed? Do you need to get another license or meet other regulations?
3. Begin recruitment. "Finding the right physicians is crucial," Mr. Heath says. Start asking around about available physicians. Look in neighboring towns. If physicians from another specialty are available, what is the cost of the additional equipment? And will your staff be able to scrub for them? "Staff in an orthopedics ASC may not be prepared to switch over to cataracts," he says.
4. Find partners you can work with. Are the physicians you are considering going to be cooperative partners on matters such as deciding block times? "In a small partnership of three, four or five physicians, it's important to have everyone in synch," Mr. Heath says. This can be determined in several face-to-face meetings with prospective partners.
5. Assess your physical plant. "The OR you are using might not be big enough for the needs of other surgeons," Mr. Heath says. "You might need to knock down a wall or get into some real construction." If the work would be too costly, it might be better just to start from scratch and construct a new center.
6. Consider combining with other centers. "If you are in an overbuilt area with lots of centers, the best solution might be to combine operations with another existing ASC," Mr. Heath says. "Two ASCs with very small volume can create one ASC that can survive."
Learn more about Practice Partners in Healthcare.
Read more advice from Practice Partners in Healthcare:
-4 Kinds of Physicians Who Have Not Yet Invested in an ASC
-The Current State of ASCs: Q&A With Bill Heath of Practice Partners in Healthcare
-10 Companies to Know
1. Understand your incentive to grow. Turning your center around will require bringing in partners, losing the total control you're used to and joining a cooperative enterprise. "It means having a smaller piece of a bigger pie," Mr. Heath says. "Which would you rather have? One hundred percent of a center that can only break even or a share of a center that is actually making a distribution?"
2. Evaluate existing business. "Sit down and get a handle on your existing business," Mr. Heath says. What additional volume could be brought in? Are there enough open slots in your schedule for more partners, or do you need to add extra days of operation? Are extra staff needed? Do you need to get another license or meet other regulations?
3. Begin recruitment. "Finding the right physicians is crucial," Mr. Heath says. Start asking around about available physicians. Look in neighboring towns. If physicians from another specialty are available, what is the cost of the additional equipment? And will your staff be able to scrub for them? "Staff in an orthopedics ASC may not be prepared to switch over to cataracts," he says.
4. Find partners you can work with. Are the physicians you are considering going to be cooperative partners on matters such as deciding block times? "In a small partnership of three, four or five physicians, it's important to have everyone in synch," Mr. Heath says. This can be determined in several face-to-face meetings with prospective partners.
5. Assess your physical plant. "The OR you are using might not be big enough for the needs of other surgeons," Mr. Heath says. "You might need to knock down a wall or get into some real construction." If the work would be too costly, it might be better just to start from scratch and construct a new center.
6. Consider combining with other centers. "If you are in an overbuilt area with lots of centers, the best solution might be to combine operations with another existing ASC," Mr. Heath says. "Two ASCs with very small volume can create one ASC that can survive."
Learn more about Practice Partners in Healthcare.
Read more advice from Practice Partners in Healthcare:
-4 Kinds of Physicians Who Have Not Yet Invested in an ASC
-The Current State of ASCs: Q&A With Bill Heath of Practice Partners in Healthcare
-10 Companies to Know