From battling storm damage to adding service lines, seven ASC leaders spoke with Becker's about the biggest accomplishments at their centers:
Editor's note: These responses were edited lightly for clarity and brevity.
Armando Colon, CASCC. Privacy & Compliance Officer at the Day Surgery Center (Winter Haven, Fla.): Our team strives to provide the highest quality service for our patients and is proud that these efforts have been recognized by multiple organizations. This recognition has allowed us to expand our practice and work with a broader group of patients. Our medical team is proud to have achieved a 98 percent patient satisfaction score.
Orthopedic and spine procedures have grown the fastest. We have developed a lower-cost service models by providing a wider range of customized services and offering partnerships that address ASC needs. Such services include support for administration, scheduling, operating room utilization and staffing. Physician affiliation has grown in the past year. By being a multispecialty center, we have been able to establish a standardization model that encourages payers and physicians to steer procedures to our center. We can proudly say that our model has allowed us to increase the number of cases that other facilities have not been able to sustain.
Jennifer Zayas, RN. Nurse Manager at Center for Pain Management (Sartell, Minn.): My practice’s biggest accomplishment in the past year was building a new facility that included a larger, more modern space that allows for the addition of an ASC. The practice has gone from four clinics and one ASC to four clinics, and we are currently licensing the second ASC. We are proud to present to our community the pride we have in taking care of patients in their rural areas and providing them with interventional pain management options. Our presence has helped lessen the impact of the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. We have provided care in struggling health care systems in rural communities.
Susan Bianco, RN. Administrator at Big Creek Surgery Center of Southwest General (Middleburg Heights, Ohio): Successfully navigating uncharted territory during the height of the pandemic and current surge has proven to be a huge accomplishment over the past year. Staff experienced a large reduction in hours, managed personal protective equipment challenges, revised policies and procedures, and supported each other while maintaining high patient experience scores, positive profit margins and safe patient outcomes.
Jackie McLaughlin, RN. Administrator at Northwoods Surgery Center (Virginia, Minn.): Our biggest accomplishment is staff retention and maintaining morale throughout the surgical center. Not only are we constantly faced with rapidly changing developments in learning about COVID-19, we also have been diligently keeping up with recommendations from the CDC in regards to COVID-19. In addition to the COVID-19 stressors, we were up for our Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care recertification this year, which adds another level of anxiety and stress to the team. It has been a year of unknowns and changes. The team has adapted and worked together to navigate through all the stressors that they face daily.
Connor Van Alfen. Business Development Specialist at Blue Cloud Pediatric Surgery Centers (Glen Rock, Penn.): Our biggest accomplishment is more than doubling the size of our company by the end of this year. We'll have 17-18 ASCs, each specializing in pediatric dentistry under general anesthesia.
Kayla Schneeweiss-Keene. Administrator at Mann Cataract Surgery Center (Humble, Texas): Our center's biggest accomplishment in the past year, I believe, is working through adversity as a team. As with everyone, COVID-19 has been a challenge with staff either being sick or exposed, having an unusually high amount of staff turnover — leaving the center short-staffed for most of the year — and with patients hesitant to have surgery. This alone can be discouraging for anyone. Additionally, we had a main fire water line burst during a winter storm at one center, leading to elevators being inoperable for the practice. Thankfully, there was little damage to the surgery center. The core team stayed strong through it all, pulled together when short-staffed and helped each other out.
Sam Williams. Assistant Vice President of Operations at Ambulatory Surgery Northwell Health (Lake Success, N.Y.): Our biggest accomplishment in the past year has been the development of a 23-hour stay program. Having the ability to house patients overnight has given us the ability to expand our patient population and perform more complex surgeries.