ASCs offer employees advantages that they could not find in the surgery department in the hospital, says Greg Zoch, a managing director at Kaye/Bassman, an executive search firm for ASCs and other companies. Here he lists five key differences between ASCs and hospitals.
1. Service hours. All cases at an ASC must wrap up by the end of each day and employees usually don’t have to work on evenings or weekends. This means ASC employees don't have to be available at odd hours or carry a pager, as they have to do in hospitals. This is an important difference for employees with young children. "It's hard to find babysitting when you're paged at 3:00 in the morning," Mr. Zoch says.
2. Pace of work. Hospital ORs typically have a slower pace than ASCs, here quick turnaround times are essential. At ASCs, "There is a greater emphasis on getting the work done on time," Mr. Zoch says.
3. Complexity of cases. ASCs are not equipped to perform the most complex cases, so these cases tend to stay at the hospital. "Some people really like to deal with very complex cases and they might feel frustrated at a surgery center," Mr. Zoch says. "They should probably stay in the hospital environment."
4. Owners mingle with staff. Physician-investors in the ASC are on the front lines, interacting with staff. This gives the ASC a very entrepreneurial feel as opposed to a hospital, where it is difficult for executives to get to the front lines and there are hierarchical lines of authority. "The hospital tends to be more bureaucratic, slower moving and more rigid in decision-making," Mr. Zoch says.
5. Compensation. While ASCs often reward employees based on individual merit, hospitals tend to abide by rigid pay scales. "It is harder to get a raise based on merit in a hospital than in a ASC," Mr. Zoch says. "In the hospital things tend to be based on seniority."
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