Instigating efficient block times is the key way to maximize revenue, according to some ASC leaders. ,
Susan Cheek, administrator of the Dallas Endoscopy Center and IV Anesthesia Services as well as a board member for the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society, joined Becker's to discuss her key piece of advice to ASC administrators.
Question: What's your key piece of advice for new ASC administrators?:
Editor's note: This response was edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Susan Cheek: Be in touch with your physician owners and push your ASC to be as efficient as possible in regards to compression of scheduling and block times so that physician block time and procedure time is released in a timely manner. The bottom line is your surgery center cannot sit idle. You should not have any empty time in your ASC because you have hard and fixed costs no matter if you're doing cases or not — you need to be running at full capacity at all times which will in turn drive physician satisfaction, making them want to bring their cases to the ASC and making it as easy as possible to schedule with your center. Without the cases being performed at maximum efficiency, then you're directly affecting your bottom line.
Another key is being efficient and knowledgeable about what technology is out there for ASCs. Technology can help you grow without having to maybe hire as many people in the future. You can leverage the use your employees at a higher level and use technology for more mundane or routine tasks, freeing up your staff for higher level things you may need them to do.