CMS' proposal to add total knee arthroplasty to the ASC covered procedures list in 2020 is "long overdue," according to Michael Gillman, MD, CMO and founder of Las Vegas-based BullsEye Ortho.
Dr. Gillman has been performing total knee replacements in surgery centers since 2011, when he performed the first known outpatient total knee replacement in California's Orange County, according to the American College of Perioperative Medicine.
CMS' recent decision is "better late" than never, Dr. Gillman said.
"Patients win with better satisfaction scores and experiences, lower risk of infection and last but not least, lower out-of-pocket costs," he said in a LinkedIn post. "Cost savings for the system are tremendous when you consider that 50-70% of patients can safely have total knee replacements done out of the hospital."
BullsEye Ortho's ASC recorded 19,000 procedures in 2018, with only eight infections, according to Dr. Gillman.