A recent webinar highlighted how healthcare reform will impact spine surgeons in hospitals and surgery centers. The webinar featured Nicola V. Hawkinson, DNP, RN, of SpineSearch discussing the key issues associated with managing spine surgery.
In the face of declining reimbursements associated with healthcare reform, Ms. Hawkinson says spine surgery centers must focus on decreasing overhead, retaining staff and increasing efficiencies. Surgery centers are already preparing for and meeting these challenges by expanding to include multidisciplinary professionals, incorporate minimally invasive procedures, add more outpatient services and advanced technologies and offering additional education opportunities for employees.
Healthcare reform will mean that there will be an increase in the number of patients receiving healthcare, which will promote a growth in the outpatient sector, says Ms. Hawkinson. "This will force us as healthcare professionals and providers to rethink the way we practice," she says. Additionally, hospitals and surgery centers won't be able to bill for service rendered, rather for coordinated care and outcomes.
A profitable ASC needs to improve revenue cycles by:
• Maintaining current physician compensation level
• Maintaining ASC profitability
• Improving collections process
• Recruiting new physicians
Surgery centers need to understand that physicians are seeing more patients but with less reimbursement per patient. Having a strong understanding of the referral system and competitive landscape is important in staying ahead of the curve. Don't increase expenses. However, you should consider hiring more non-physicians providers to meet the needs of an increased patient volume. Office staff and administrators need to work together to improve collections by helping patients understand if they are eligible for treatment, following up with denied claims and considering contract renegotiations.
Ms. Hawkinson also recommends surgery centers recruit new physicians by showing physician marketing efforts and a stable patient volume. Surgery centers should also convert to electronic medical records to increase efficiencies.
There are new trends in spine surgery that surgery centers should focus on, including:
• Minimally invasive procedures
• Emphasis on interventional procedures
• Spine surgery in an outpatient setting
Spine centers should also maintain a competitive edge over other community surgery centers by focusing on customer service, offering diversified service lines that the competition does not and becoming a spine center of excellence. ACOs also offer opportunities for surgery centers and spine surgeons. "The goal of ACOs is to offer the multidisciplinary approach," says Ms. Hawkinson. Multidisciplinary centers have more contract negotiating power than a single surgeon, she says.
Download the Webinar presentation by clicking here (pdf).
View the Webinar by clicking here (wmv). We suggest you download the video to your computer before viewing to ensure better quality. If you have problems viewing the video, which is in Windows Media Video format, you can use a program like VLC media player, free for download here.
Learn more about SpineSearch.
In the face of declining reimbursements associated with healthcare reform, Ms. Hawkinson says spine surgery centers must focus on decreasing overhead, retaining staff and increasing efficiencies. Surgery centers are already preparing for and meeting these challenges by expanding to include multidisciplinary professionals, incorporate minimally invasive procedures, add more outpatient services and advanced technologies and offering additional education opportunities for employees.
Healthcare reform will mean that there will be an increase in the number of patients receiving healthcare, which will promote a growth in the outpatient sector, says Ms. Hawkinson. "This will force us as healthcare professionals and providers to rethink the way we practice," she says. Additionally, hospitals and surgery centers won't be able to bill for service rendered, rather for coordinated care and outcomes.
A profitable ASC needs to improve revenue cycles by:
• Maintaining current physician compensation level
• Maintaining ASC profitability
• Improving collections process
• Recruiting new physicians
Surgery centers need to understand that physicians are seeing more patients but with less reimbursement per patient. Having a strong understanding of the referral system and competitive landscape is important in staying ahead of the curve. Don't increase expenses. However, you should consider hiring more non-physicians providers to meet the needs of an increased patient volume. Office staff and administrators need to work together to improve collections by helping patients understand if they are eligible for treatment, following up with denied claims and considering contract renegotiations.
Ms. Hawkinson also recommends surgery centers recruit new physicians by showing physician marketing efforts and a stable patient volume. Surgery centers should also convert to electronic medical records to increase efficiencies.
There are new trends in spine surgery that surgery centers should focus on, including:
• Minimally invasive procedures
• Emphasis on interventional procedures
• Spine surgery in an outpatient setting
Spine centers should also maintain a competitive edge over other community surgery centers by focusing on customer service, offering diversified service lines that the competition does not and becoming a spine center of excellence. ACOs also offer opportunities for surgery centers and spine surgeons. "The goal of ACOs is to offer the multidisciplinary approach," says Ms. Hawkinson. Multidisciplinary centers have more contract negotiating power than a single surgeon, she says.
Download the Webinar presentation by clicking here (pdf).
View the Webinar by clicking here (wmv). We suggest you download the video to your computer before viewing to ensure better quality. If you have problems viewing the video, which is in Windows Media Video format, you can use a program like VLC media player, free for download here.
Learn more about SpineSearch.