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December 18, 2018
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ASCA Highlights
Register for the ASCA 2019 Conference & Expo by December 31 to enjoy the biggest savings. ASCA’s annual conference, May 15–18 in Nashville, TN, has it all: top-quality educational sessions, unparalleled networking opportunities, product demos from hundreds of vendors in the largest ASC-specific exhibit hall of the year and more.
Check out the full schedule and register today!
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Are you attending the 2019 Winter Seminar? Join us for HSTpathway's Affiliate Lab Presentation: Utilizing an Integrated Software Platform to Reach Business & Clinical Goals
Are you looking to maximize your efficiency across your center from scheduling to charting to billing, and making patient care & safety improvements? How can you improve your supply chain costs, measure your case costs easily, or improve your revenue cycle management with faster collections? Robert Marinich, Vice President at HSTpathways, will show you how utilizing HST’s integrated platform will help you reach your goals faster, and with more accurate and measurable outcomes.
Sign-up today!
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ASCA members are invited to apply for Medical Mission Scholarships provided through the ASCA Foundation’s partnership with One World Surgery. Opportunities are available for nurses, surgical techs and scrub techs, and each scholarship covers the program fee as well as roundtrip coach airfare for the participant.
All who are interested in One World Surgery’s weeklong medical missions at the Holy Family Surgery Center in Honduras should learn more and apply.
Get the new year off to a great start with ASCA's 2019 Winter Seminar. This year’s program, taking place January 17–19 in Austin, TX, features three specialized tracks:
- ASC Management Essentials (new in 2019)
- Coding Update & Reimbursement Strategies
- Infection Prevention Techniques for ASCs
You can move freely between the tracks and attend any of the sessions offered during this focused, ASC-specific seminar. Be sure to check out the schedule and register today!
ASCA is seeking candidates to serve on the ASCA Board of Directors. Board members also serve on the ASCA Foundation Board. If you know of an individual who has the skills, experience and the commitment to devote efforts to advocacy by serving on the ASCA/ASCA Foundation boards, please see if they are interested and, if so, nominate them by December 31. Self-nominations are accepted. Learn more.
In August 2017, Mississippi Valley Surgery Center in Davenport, IA, began work on a multimillion-dollar addition and renovation. One year later, the project is going “relatively smoothly,” says Michael Patterson, RN, ASCA Board member and the ASC’s president and chief executive officer. Read this ASC Focus article to learn how this ASC is successfully carrying out their facility renovation.
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Attending the 2019 Winter Seminar? Register today for Capsa Healthcare's Focus Group on Improving the Safe Storage & Tracking of Controlled Medication Doses.
Capsa Healthcare is looking for input from up to twelve ASC directors or administrators on how best to deploy a new technology for safely storing and tracking controlled medication dosages in the ASC setting. Those selected will join Capsa for a working dinner to identify how their proprietary technology solution should be customized to best meet the demands of the ASC environment.
Register today! |
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To culminate a series of hearings on US health care costs, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), sent a letter to stakeholders regarding ideas to reduce cost of care. In his letter, Chairman Alexander states that perhaps more than 50 percent of health care spending is unnecessary. Read more.
Industry News
Competition in Outpatient Procedure Markets
Medical Care (01/01/19) Vol. 57, No. 1, P. 36 Baker, Laurence C.; Bundorf, M.K.; Kessler, Daniel P.
More than half of all medical procedures performed in the United States occur in an outpatient setting, yet few studies have explored how competition among ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospitals affects prices for commercially insured outpatient services. We examined the association between prices for commercially insured outpatient procedures and competition among ASCs and hospitals.
How 2 New Orleans Health Providers Are Beating National Rates for Colon Cancer Screening
New Orleans Times-Picayune (12/10/18) Clark, Maria
The second most deadly form of cancer among U.S. adults is also one of the most treatable, if caught early. However, many health care providers have struggled to improve screening rates for colon cancer.
New Guidance Outlines Recommendations for Infection Control in Anesthesiology
Medicalxpress (12/11/2018)
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America has issued a new expert guidance on how hospitals and healthcare providers may reduce infections associated with anesthesiology procedures and equipment in the operating room. The guidance, published in SHEA's journal, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, recommends steps to improve infection prevention through increased hand hygiene, environmental disinfection, and continuous improvement plans.
Joint Commission Issues New Alert on Developing Reporting Culture to Improve Health Care Safety Systems
Joint Commission Press Release (12/11/18) Lyons, Maureen
Every year, The Joint Commission reviews reports from health care professionals about unsafe conditions within their organizations. The most serious often lead to on-site evaluation and work with The Joint Commission to identify and remediate breakdowns to improve quality and safety.
Duodenoscope Reprocessing: Interim Study Results Indicate Higher Contamination Rates
Regulatory Focus (12/10/2018) Mulero, Ana
Interim results from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) mandated postmarket surveillance studies of duodenoscopes indicated a "higher-than-anticipated contamination rates after reprocessing," FDA said in a safety notice released on Monday. The postmarket surveillance studies, including human factors studies as well as sampling and culturing studies, were set as requirements in 2015 on all three duodenoscope manufacturers on the US market amid a growing body of patient infection cases.
Patients Often Withhold Relevant Information From Doctors
Reuters (12/06/18) Crist, Carolyn
Patients commonly hold back information from doctors that could help in their healthcare, which could influence the care they receive or even harm them, researchers say. Doctors are familiar with this phenomenon, but it’s time now to talk about why patients do this and how to spark better conversations, the study authors write in JAMA Network Open.
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Outpatient Joint Replacement and Achieving The Triple Aim
Andrew Stoeckl, MD President of Excelsior Orthopaedics | Nicholas J. Violante, DO | David Uba, MBA, CEO
Excelsior Orthopaedics – Buffalo, NY
Patient outcomes demonstrate that outpatient joint replacement (OJR) provides an alternative site of care for patients suffering from chronic osteoarthritis. With the Triple Aim Objectives of healthcare reform firmly planted at the forefront of the national debate, OJR has been less costly than joint replacement performed in an inpatient hospital setting for our practice. By streamlining care in the outpatient setting, and contracting with local insurance providers with a bundled offering, Excelsior Orthopaedics decreased the top line reimbursement for total joints from approximately $38,000 to $26,000.
Continue reading here! |
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