Here are seven updates for healthcare leaders to note from the past week:
The Joint Commission's new toolkit aims to make ambulatory surgery safer
The Joint Commission and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a toolkit to help ASCs meet national patient safety goals. The Joint Commission and the Agency for Healthcare Research developed the toolkit off of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program.
Surgery Partners to close National Surgical Healthcare deal in nearly 2 weeks
Surgery Partners set Aug. 31 as the date it will close on its deal to acquire National Surgical Healthcare. Surgery Partners bought National Surgical Healthcare for nearly $760 million.
More physicians on board with single-payer healthcare system
A Merritt Hawkins survey found 42 percent of physicians "strongly" favor a single-payer system and an additional 14 percent reported they "somewhat" support such a system. Only six percent are "somewhat" against the system
Montana hospital building $12.9M Digestive Health Institute
Kalispell (Mont.) Regional Healthcare is constructing a new gastroenterology center, the Digestive Health Institute. The institute is a $12.9 million, two-story, 28,216-square-foot building centered on gastroenterology care.
Buena Vista Regional Medical Center opens surgical center
Storm Lake, Iowa-based Buena Vista Regional Medical Center opened a surgical clinic Aug. 14 in Storm Lake. BVRMC named the clinic Buena Vista General Surgery.
US markets with the lowest ASC penetration
Some of the largest markets in the country have less than 40 percent ASC penetration, according to a Franklin Trust Ratings report titled "Disruption in the Surgical Care Marketplace. Cleveland has the lowest ASC penetration as 8 percent. See what other markets made the list here.
https://www.beckersasc.com/asc-turnarounds-ideas-to-improve-performance/10-large-us-markets-with-the-lowest-asc-penetration.html
CBO: Eliminating cost-sharing reductions would increase federal deficit by $194B over 9 years
Along with the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Congressional Budget released a report detailing the consequences of government officials implementing a policy that would terminate the ACA's cost-sharing reductions. The federal deficit would jump by $194 billion between 2017 and 2026.