Cathy McCue, MSN, RN, administrator of Uropartners Surgery Center in Des Plaines, Ill., connected with Becker’s to discuss the ASCs of the future.
Editor’s note: This response was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What will the ASCs of the future look like in 10 or more years from now?
Cathy McCue: I see the ASC of the future as the premier institution a patient chooses for surgery. Hospitals will only be utilized for chronically ill patients with comorbidities. Even today, many ASCs are becoming 23-hour ASCs, allowing more and more complex procedures to be performed there, including robotic procedures.
As patients and insurance carriers become more educated on ambulatory surgery centers, they will ask their physicians to send them to an ASC or their insurance carrier will require them to go to an ASC for surgeries. As more surgeries are streamlined or new ones created that fit the ASC requirements, the complex procedures currently done in hospitals will be moved to ASCs.
Since ASCs have basically a 0 percent infection rate, are extremely efficient and cost less than hospitals, it becomes a win-win for all involved.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.