Last Thursday, Marsha Thiel, RN, MA, CEO of Medical Advanced Specialists, spoke about best practices for pain management in ASCs at the 9th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management Conference in Chicago. Medical Advanced Specialists is a Minneapolis-based practice has specialized in care for chronic pain patients since 1997. Ms. Thiel has been involved in pain management since 1994 and her presentation focused on the business operations of the specialty.
Ms. Thiel mentioned more patients are calling her centers to inquire about prices. "How many of you have patients call once a week for the price of a procedure?" Ms. Thiel asked, and approximately 30 percent of the attendants raised a hand. Assuming centers have clinical performance in check, Ms. Thiel suggested best practices to control costs. "The biggest expense is your employees," she said, "and the biggest way you can win is by having efficiencies."
Ms. Thiel recommended ASCs analyze workflow. "This is an important step many people don't take time to do," she said. "It's time-consuming and hard. But if you look at every step, there are opportunities for money. It's easy to save four minutes. Convert that to money and you'll see why it's important." She recommended administrators walk themselves through the patient experience at their ASC to identify inefficiencies. A cost breakdown showed that by trimming 10 minutes per case, an ASC can save up to $20,160 a year in staffing costs.
Standardization is another best practice Ms. Thiel suggested. Her facilities have standardized discharge instructions, risk/benefit discussions and procedure information. "Don't change up the story. Automate it," said Ms. Thiel. Any patient who undergoes a procedure must watch a risk video that is played in the patient's room. "I've sat down with an attorney, and I said, 'I want to show you what our patients see prior to signing the consent forms.' I play the video, and then I never hear from the attorney again," said Ms. Thiel. "That's a real time-saver." The videos provide evidence that each patient receives the same procedure information and risk discussion prior to undergoing surgery.
"There may be subtle changes happening," said Ms.Thiel, referring to small operational improvements that may not reap the most noticeable or immediate rewards. She recommended ASCs install the proper systems or benchmarking tools to track operational improvements.
Related Articles on ASC Efficiency:
10 Proven Ways to Improve Surgery Center Efficiency
Managing the Revenue Cycle: 10 Areas for Improvement
10 Proven Ways for Surgery Centers to Improve Workflow Processes
Ms. Thiel mentioned more patients are calling her centers to inquire about prices. "How many of you have patients call once a week for the price of a procedure?" Ms. Thiel asked, and approximately 30 percent of the attendants raised a hand. Assuming centers have clinical performance in check, Ms. Thiel suggested best practices to control costs. "The biggest expense is your employees," she said, "and the biggest way you can win is by having efficiencies."
Ms. Thiel recommended ASCs analyze workflow. "This is an important step many people don't take time to do," she said. "It's time-consuming and hard. But if you look at every step, there are opportunities for money. It's easy to save four minutes. Convert that to money and you'll see why it's important." She recommended administrators walk themselves through the patient experience at their ASC to identify inefficiencies. A cost breakdown showed that by trimming 10 minutes per case, an ASC can save up to $20,160 a year in staffing costs.
Standardization is another best practice Ms. Thiel suggested. Her facilities have standardized discharge instructions, risk/benefit discussions and procedure information. "Don't change up the story. Automate it," said Ms. Thiel. Any patient who undergoes a procedure must watch a risk video that is played in the patient's room. "I've sat down with an attorney, and I said, 'I want to show you what our patients see prior to signing the consent forms.' I play the video, and then I never hear from the attorney again," said Ms. Thiel. "That's a real time-saver." The videos provide evidence that each patient receives the same procedure information and risk discussion prior to undergoing surgery.
"There may be subtle changes happening," said Ms.Thiel, referring to small operational improvements that may not reap the most noticeable or immediate rewards. She recommended ASCs install the proper systems or benchmarking tools to track operational improvements.
Related Articles on ASC Efficiency:
10 Proven Ways to Improve Surgery Center Efficiency
Managing the Revenue Cycle: 10 Areas for Improvement
10 Proven Ways for Surgery Centers to Improve Workflow Processes