A panel of industry leaders discussed efficiency and instilling efficient practices at Becker’s ASC 23rd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs on October 27.
ASC administrators need to take several things into account to create success. For Gary Richberg, RN, administrator of the Pacific Rim Outpatient Surgery Center in Bellingham, Wash., providing quality care while ensuring profitability is of the utmost importance.
Mr. Richberg identified benchmarking and openly sharing data with physicians as areas administrators should target. OR scheduling and ensuring minimum patient turnaround time is one area where such benchmarks apply.
The benchmarks tap into the competitive nature of physicians, and that competitiveness fuels a desire to cut down on inefficiencies. Mr. Richberg advises administrators to sit down and talk with a physician if there isn’t any improvement. Making the problem as clear as possible, reinforced with qualitative data, gives physicians the evidence they need make necessary changes and address any issues.
Using data is something Jeany Dunaway, RN, CASC, administrator at Effingham (Ill.) Ambulatory Surgery Center, has been doing for the last year-and-a-half. She has collected physician start times and identified inefficiencies in the times and presented the facts to the physicians.
“The report goes to the owners and it is kind of a shame game,” Ms. Dunaway said. “The chart goes up on the PowerPoint, and the physicians get questioned by their peers. I think that helped. We let them know that we’re watching and their peers care.”
Chad Hoare, ASC division sales manager at Medline Industries, related the administrators experience to the vendor side of healthcare. As a business owner, he uses quantifiable data and benchmarks to make decisions and set expectations of performance.
Wasted time is directly correlated with lost money. If an administrator or a business owner can use benchmarks and data to drive efficiency they must.
“I found the key to managing a successful business is constantly benchmarking everything,” Mr. Hoare said, “Having the capability to set an expectation and have data as a benchmark and using that data to drive conversations is invaluable.”
Data not only improves physician performance, but for Lianne McDowell, CASC, administrator at South Portland Surgical Center, data helps her materials manager keep the ASC’s inventory properly stocked.
“You have to have a very savvy materials manager,” Ms. McDowell said, “If you don’t you’re just spinning your wheels. Get them involved in knowing what their costs are, and what your expectations are, and get cost savings logs involved. When you give them the tools and supplies they need to contact vendors, they can get those better rates.”
Administrators should use data as a tool and drive down supply costs. Physicians are analytical people, and the case to change their practices is made through analytics.
Data is also essential to ensure a center is ordering only what it needs.
“We use just-in-time ordering and we do quite well,” Mr. Richberg said, “I prefer just-in-time to just-too-much because sometimes nurses hoard stuff. You look under the sink and there is a whole anesthesia machine down there. I benchmark at least 20 percent to 25 percent of my revenue to supply cost. It’s probably one of the easiest things to benchmark. … You don’t want to have too much. You want to have enough for the case.”
From a vendor’s standpoint, that material data is invaluable. If an administrator presents supply use metrics to a vendor, the vendor can then go and attempt to lower the price of their offerings.
Instead of having to move a catalog of 100 items the vendor can focus on keeping 10 in stock and passing the savings on to the centers.
“There are a number of efficiencies we’re trying to meet on our end, the less we can manage, the easier it is and truthfully it’s reasonable for me to request a discount if we’re moving 10 items instead of 100,” Mr. Hoare said.
Efficient ASCs benefit every party involved from the patients to the administrators.
“It’s all about the patients. You have to be in compliance and a profitable ASC,” Mr. Richburg said.
More articles on improving performance:
Be significant — Pat Riley on fulfilling a career and leading a team
What captive insurance can do for your ASC: 3 key thoughts
Finding & maintaining staff to maximize your ASC’s potential: 6 considerations
