Elias Ghandour, MD, is a gastroenterologist and one of the founders of NorthStar Surgical Center in Lubbock, Texas. He shares five goals he has for his ambulatory surgery center and practice for 2012.
1. Provide patients with the highest possible quality of care. "One of the reasons we founded the ASC 10 years ago, and one of the reasons we continue to operate, is so we could provide our patients with the highest quality of service in endoscopy, in a very pleasant outpatient endoscopy center, without being in a big hospital," Dr. Ghandour says. "We plan to continue doing so in 2012."
2. Continue to keep costs down. Another reason Dr. Ghandour say he helped develop the ASC was to provide services at a significantly lower cost to the patient. Despite economic challenges, he says this remains a critical objective and goal for 2012.
"For example, I can do an upper and lower endoscopy at my ASC for professional fees, endoscopy suite fees and all of the charges for less than $1,400," he says. "That would be $10,000-$12,000 at the hospital. We want to continue to provide the same service, and maybe even a better service, for outpatient endoscopies for a fraction of what the hospital is charging, at least in our area."
3. Remain independent. "I've been in practice for 21 years; I'm very independent, never been employed by any hospital or group and I want to keep it this way until I retire," Dr. Ghandour says. "If we're going to have a 27 percent [Medicare] cut, myself, like other people in this area, will consider early retirement or stop seeing Medicare patients. We're going to have to start keeping expenses and overall costs in the office as low as possible" to remain independent.
4. Provide education on colon cancer and acid reflux. Dr. Ghandour says he intends to continue providing, through information and seminars, education regarding colon cancer prevention and acid reflux management. "[Colon cancer] is a preventable disease by providing screenings," he says. "We also want to provide information about acid reflux management and awareness of complications that could come from acid reflux if it is not managed properly."
5. Increase awareness of morbidity and liver disease. "As a gastroenterologist with interest in hepatology, I would dare to say there's an endemic now in my area of West Texas where obesity and NASH syndrome (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) are becoming very common," Dr. Ghandour says. "We try to provide awareness seminars at the NorthStar ASC where we have a nutritionist and dietician involved to talk about exercise and weight-loss to prevent liver disease."
Learn more about NorthStar Surgical Center.
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