5 Initiatives Lead to Strong Growth in a Weak Economy: Louisville Surgery Center

Louisville (Ky.) Surgery Center is a multi-specialty surgery center with seven physicians that partnered with ASD Management at the end of 2008. Here's how it achieved strong results in 2009, including increasing profits by 31 percent, increasing volume by 27 percent, increasing distributions to physicians by 37 percent and reducing medical supply costs by 15 percent.

1. Reduced outstanding accounts receivable days. The center dropped its outstanding A/R days from 74 to 29, a significant improvement. A collector began checking on the outstanding accounts daily, up from two times per week, and the center implemented strict policies and procedures to help collect more payment up front. That included adhering to a 3-month payment plan for those patients who could not pay in full at the time of their procedure.

2. Renegotiated payor contracts. Not only did the Louisville ASC renegotiate all of its managed care contracts, it added three new ones. The center gained leverage with insurers by showcasing its high volumes and by demonstrating to payors that it would be less expensive for them to have patients treated in the center than in the hospital.

3. Added new service lines. The center added ENT services to its specialty mix, which increased the center's procedure count by 27 percent. ENT was chosen because it is a well-reimbursed and high-volume service, and the particular surgeons involved were very efficient, able to handle as many as 24 cases in a day.

4. Outsourced coding. An audit showed that outsourcing coding would maximize charges and increase reimbursements. Outside experts were able to code procedures more accurately and maximize coding by adding modifiers when possible. Under the new system, the coding and billing for implants and multiple procedures was more accurate.

5. Improved efficiency. Staff members worked to keep staff hours per patient as low as possible, while maintaining a focus on quality. Cuts were made by looking at total patients per day and types of cases, and then minimizing staff as much as possible. Fortunately, staff members were flexible enough to switch hours or days at the last minute to accommodate the frequently changing schedule.

Thank you to ASD Management for arranging this story.