At the 19th Annual Ambulatory Surgery Centers Conference in Chicago Oct. 26, Sev Hrywnak, MD, DPM, and Robert Zasa, MSHHA, FACMPE, founder of ASD Management, discussed adding podiatry residency programs to ASCs.
Dr. Hrywnak and Mr. Zasa shared the following steps for adding podiatry residency programs to ASCs:
1. Set up a legal structure for the program.
2. Consider a hospital affiliation.
3. Price out prospectively. ASCs should calculate the cost per case prospectively, according to Mr. Zasa. He suggested calculating the cost of the top 15 procedures by taking into account the average time it takes each physician to perform the procedure and the cost of the implants. ASCs can then determine the cost per case per podiatrist.
4. Identify proficient podiatrists in the market. The case costing process can help ASCs identify the most cost efficient physicians with quality outcomes for each procedure.
5. Negotiate with payors. Once the ASCs identify the top podiatrists, they can ask payors to consolidate volume to these physicians. "Play favorites with people who perform well," Mr. Zasa said.
6. Identify an experienced podiatry preceptor. ASCs should identify a podiatrist who has experience either leading or participating in a podiatry residency program and who can teach and monitor up-to-date clinical techniques and efficient cost per case utilization. "[Podiatry residents'] education post-graduation is not uniform," Dr. Hrywnak said. "We're trying to reeducate them."
7. Promote the program. Dr. Hrywnak and Mr. Zasa said ASCs should promote the podiatry residency program to workers compensation carriers and third-party administrators that handle self-insured employers. ASCs should also identify and market the program to a podiatry independent physician association if one exists in the market, according to Dr. Hrywnak and Mr. Zasa.
Maximizing ASC Sales by Addressing 6 Key Challenges
Is the HOPD Model the Future for ASCs?
Dr. Hrywnak and Mr. Zasa shared the following steps for adding podiatry residency programs to ASCs:
1. Set up a legal structure for the program.
2. Consider a hospital affiliation.
3. Price out prospectively. ASCs should calculate the cost per case prospectively, according to Mr. Zasa. He suggested calculating the cost of the top 15 procedures by taking into account the average time it takes each physician to perform the procedure and the cost of the implants. ASCs can then determine the cost per case per podiatrist.
4. Identify proficient podiatrists in the market. The case costing process can help ASCs identify the most cost efficient physicians with quality outcomes for each procedure.
5. Negotiate with payors. Once the ASCs identify the top podiatrists, they can ask payors to consolidate volume to these physicians. "Play favorites with people who perform well," Mr. Zasa said.
6. Identify an experienced podiatry preceptor. ASCs should identify a podiatrist who has experience either leading or participating in a podiatry residency program and who can teach and monitor up-to-date clinical techniques and efficient cost per case utilization. "[Podiatry residents'] education post-graduation is not uniform," Dr. Hrywnak said. "We're trying to reeducate them."
7. Promote the program. Dr. Hrywnak and Mr. Zasa said ASCs should promote the podiatry residency program to workers compensation carriers and third-party administrators that handle self-insured employers. ASCs should also identify and market the program to a podiatry independent physician association if one exists in the market, according to Dr. Hrywnak and Mr. Zasa.
More Articles on the 19th Annual Ambulatory Surgery Centers Conference:
10 Tactics for Managing Orthopedic TechnologyMaximizing ASC Sales by Addressing 6 Key Challenges
Is the HOPD Model the Future for ASCs?