Here are seven news updates for ambulatory surgery center industry leaders to know for Jan. 29, 2015.
Medicare to shift away from fee-for-service reimbursement.
The Obama administration announced plans to dramatically alter the way Medicare reimburses providers over the next four years. The first goal of plan will shift 30 percent of payments to physicians and hospitals to alternative models by next year. The plan aims to ramp up these efforts and have 50 percent of Medicare payments delivered through alternative models by 2018. Details on how these goals will be accomplished have yet to be revealed.
AmSurg to open Florida office.
AmSurg is relocating its operations to a larger location in Sunrise, Fla. The move is driven by AmSurg's recent acquisition of Sheridan Healthcare, based in Sunrise. AmSurg signed a lease on 222,000-square-foot location. The company intends to move 167,000 square feet of its operations to the new location by September 2016. The company will then expand the location by 55,000 square feet by the following year.
Melissa Rivers to sue Yorkville Endoscopy.
Melissa Rivers has officially filed a lawsuit against Yorkville Endoscopy, alleging that a series of events at the center lead to the death of her mother, comedienne Joan Rivers. Melissa Rivers engaged the law firm Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom and Rubinowitz to investigate Yorkville Endoscopy in October 2014.
Hip, knee replacement billing can vary widely in the same market.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association recently released prices that its insurers are charged by healthcare providers, in a three-year report that covers the cost of knee and hip replacement surgeries. Officials with BCBSA said their report bolsters the common complaint that cost doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of healthcare, adding that it's fairly clear that if consumers shopped around more, cost-savings could be realized. Read the whole report on Becker's ASC Review.
St. George Surgical center posts prices online.
St. George Surgical Center began offering an "instant quote system" six months ago. Patients can go online and receive a quote that includes preoperative care, postoperative care, surgeon fee, facility fee and anesthesia fee, according to the report. The ASC offers price quotes for more than 70 procedures. The center plans to add another 30 procedures soon.
3M recognizes Florida ASC for high standards.
3M recognized Weston (Fla.) Outpatient Surgical Center for having high standards in their daily practice. The center was recognized for following the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards as well as adopting the "Every Load Monitoring" standards.
Centers for Special Surgery of Essex County opens in New Jersey.
The Centers for Special Surgery of Essex County opened in Roseland, N.J. The 15,500-square-foot, multispecialty surgery center received American Association of Accreditation for Ambulatory Surgical Facilities accreditation and all state regulatory approval.