Q: Last year presented a significant economic challenge for many ASCs. Could you describe a few successful ways your ASC was able to reduce costs?
Alisa Fischer: There were two ways which had significant impact in reducing our costs. One way was providing educational training and the other was inventory management.
In 2008, we planned for cost reductions by sending our clinical coordinator through a risk management course specific for Florida licensed risk managers. We also sent our business office manager through a certified coding course. Both accomplished this in early 2009, and through handling both risk management and coding internally, the center saved an annual expense of $55,980. This has also given these employees newly learned skills and valuable career experience at no financial expense to them.
A better grasp of inventory management significantly reduced our inventory on-hand and decreased expired supplies. We were able to change the majority of our OR supplies to one major supplier which incorporated most items through consignment. A caveat to this is that our software system (Source One) is implementing automatic online ordering with many of our suppliers, one of which is Medline. Implementing this process this year, which incorporates online and automatic barcode ordering, will greatly decrease inventory and staff time.
Q: In what ways was your ASC able to improve profits and how were you able to achieve this?
AF: We improved revenue by adding the balloon sinuplasty procedure to our ENT service. There is no capital cost with balloon sinuplasty, but there is a significant inventory on hand (greater than $10,000) since supplies are sold in boxes of five. As with other types of procedures in the ASC, it is important to make the physicians aware of reimbursement and perform insurance verification prior to the procedure. For example, Medicare does not reimburse this procedure adequately to make it feasible in the ASC; however, most commercial insurance [providers] do. Most patients also need more than one sinus area done, which means higher supply costs but is offset in reimbursement.
A smaller process to improve was preparations for meetings. Although it did not have a huge impact on the bottom line, it has decreased our office supplies and my time and frustrations. I use PowerPoint for board and medical staff meetings, employee meetings and employee education. These meetings traditionally took a lot of time and effort as well as the cost of paper to copy and collate packets. In addition to that, last minute changes created a nightmare. Technology works well to eliminate these issues.
Q: What is a major operational objective for your ASC for 2010 and how do you plan to approach and accomplish this objective?
AF: The major objective for 2010 is pretty consistent with 2009. Volume is decreasing, and it is ultimately important to control every expense, expand opportunities on supply and overhead reductions, analyze the addition of other procedures and encourage volume. It is also important with the economic crisis and healthcare changes to actively participate in the [ASC Association] and [Florida Society of Ambulatory Surgical Centers] organizations to increase politician and the public awareness of ASCs. We know we have first-class centers delivering top quality care at a low cost alternative. We must be more proactive in getting this message out.
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