As ASCs look for ways to boost efficiency without adding staff or cost, leaders are finding the biggest gains come from small operational changes like automated patient outreach and smarter block scheduling.
Executives across specialties told Becker’s targeted adjustments in workflow, planning and patient communication have delivered outsized improvements in utilization, safety and satisfaction.
Question: What small change has had an outsized impact on your ASC?
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
John Beauchamp. Senior Director of Administration, Revenue Cycle and Data Analytics at GI Associates (Milwaukee): Implementing automated outreach for ASC patients with an overdue recall using a lightweight technology platform called Brevium. Beyond improving ASC block utilization, it also helped us identify underutilized block time early and flip that capacity to office visits. This improved patient access, shortened time-to-third-available appointment and drove meaningful gains in both procedural and clinic throughput with minimal staff burden.
Lance Ferguson, MD. Surgical Director at Commonwealth Eye Surgery (Lexington, Ky.): Veracity software. Game changer for ophthalmic ASCs, as it gathers data from the primary instruments with no transfer error, allows a change in intraocular lens selection on the fly with all IOL computations immediately available and likewise allows refractive planning, including astigmatic keratotomy versus toric IOL, in the surgical suite. Eliminates errors, provides flexibility, saves clinical and administrative time and most importantly, increases patient safety. Win – Win – Win.
Gary John Mullen, MD. Principal of Sovereign Anesthesiology Partners (Raleigh, N.C.): Restructuring how we utilize and value the care team relative to the value of the total episode of care. For example, Medicare reimburses below-cost for anesthesiology pro-fees for arthroplasty; therefore, it is a cost-center. However, if we view that cost as a component of the “total cost of the episode of care,” our throughput goes up, and so does total revenue. Payers are masterful at forcing different specialty physicians in the episode of care to “fight it out” over who gets what, for example, in the ACO model, and this is antiquated. Physician alignment makes the difference.
John Petroni. Managing Owner of Silver State Surgery Center (Las Vegas): Strategic re-negotiation of our EMR system agreement. Our current EMR system has made tremendous advancements, incorporating AI and streamlining the accuracy of the entire data point entry process. Unfortunately, many of those advancements require training and process implementation. Through our negotiations, we not only lowered our overall EMR costs but were also provided multiple training sessions for the staff. This will have a tremendous impact on overall process efficiencies, staff morale, physician satisfaction, billing accuracies and will ultimately improve the overall patient experience.
Teresa Tam, MD. Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgeon and Owner of All for Women Healthcare (Chicago): Implementing a structured preoperative education protocol, including detailed visual aids and written instructions about what to expect before, during and after the procedure, has significantly improved patient outcomes and satisfaction.
I provide extensive educational materials to ensure patients are well-prepared, and I tell them half-jokingly that I’m giving them “homework.” When patients understand their role in the recovery process and know exactly what to expect, we see better compliance with preoperative instructions, reduced anxiety on the day of the procedure and fewer postoperative problems. This small investment in patient education upfront has translated into smoother experiences and better overall results.
Josh Troast, MSN, RN. Director of Ambulatory Surgery Services at Muskegon (Mich.) Surgical Associates: A timing adjustment from 5 days to 7 days for blocks converting to first come, first served. With this small change, we also began publishing the available FCFS times for the upcoming 7 days daily to all the surgery schedulers and privileged surgeons. The additional time and transparent communication has aided in improving block utilization and is a surgeon-satisfier for short-notice add-on cases.
