3 Small Changes for Big Improvements

Joe Zasa, managing partner of ASD Management, an operator of 26 ASCs throughout the United States, discusses three small changes ASCs can make which can lead to big financial improvements, and offers a "bonus" tip on how to motivate staff.

1. Consolidate vendors. Work with your surgeons to consolidate vendors and negotiate deeper discounts on your pricing, says Mr. Zasa. "Bid this out every 12-18 months," he says. "While convincing surgeons may be difficult, the reality is that many of the vendors offer comparable products and this does not impact quality of care." You must show the expected savings by making the switch — your surgeons will listen if they see the impact to the center.

2. Set high goal for front desk collections. Make it a goal to collect at least 85 percent of the amount eligible from patients (co-pays) prior to the day of surgery. The key to this is to ensure that your business office is calculating these amounts correctly, and log collections versus statements sent to the patients post-surgery, Mr. Zasa says. "Teach your business office techniques to ensure higher collections, makes sure that you take credit cards and offer to take the estimated amount over the telephone, set up a direct pay with your bank whereby checks and scanned an recorded, and double check your contracts to ensure that you have the rates correct so that you can calculate the amount," he says. "Many contracts have yearly escalators and you are leaving money on the table if you don’t have your contracts loaded."

3. Look at your fee schedule. "While we are becoming price-takers and not price-makers, the fee schedule should be updated each year to adjust for the addition of new codes and reimbursement changes on existing codes," Mr. Zasa says.

Bonus tip: Establish a bonus plan for your employees. Ask the staff for cost savings or improvement ideas and create a monetary reward for the best ideas, Mr. Zasa suggests. Create a bonus plan that focuses on overall objectives for the ASC such as declaring a dividend and balance this with how the employee performs. The best employees should receive the highest eligible amount. "The purpose of the bonus plan is to simulate ownership in your ASC and incentivize the staff to think and act like owners," he says.

ASD Management was founded in 1986 is active in turning around struggling ASCs, establishing new ASCs and HOPD MSOs and hospital-physician joint ventures. Mr. Zasa can be reached at (214) 369-2996 or learn more at www.asdmanagement.com.

Read more insight from Joe Zasa:

- 5 Ways Struggling ASCs Leave Money on the Table

-
4 Things to Know About HOPD Management Service Organization Arrangements

-
5 of the Biggest Challenges Facing ASCs

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