State of the ASC Industry and Ambulatory Surgery Center Association: Q&A with Bill Prentice of ASCA

Bill Prentice is the executive director of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.

 

Q: Now that you've been serving as the executive director of ASCA for more than six months, what's your impression of the ASC industry?

 

Bill Prentice: My initial views of the industry have only been solidified in the sense that I really value where ASCs fit in the healthcare marketplace. I'm particularly gratified that my initial observations about what a great healthcare delivery model they are have been confirmed.

 

Q: What are your key takeaways from the first half of the year for ASCA and the industry as a whole?

 

BP: The first six months for me was a time of assessment—assessing both the resources we have here within the association as well as the capabilities of the industry to promote itself and its core values, to both the public and patients as well as to policymakers here in Washington, D.C.

 

Second, it's a matter of putting together the right infrastructure to succeed in Washington in terms of advocacy. That was of primary importance and something I spent a lot of time on. Working with the ASC Advocacy Committee, which is an industry-supported effort to improve our federal advocacy on behalf of ASCs, along with putting a team in place here in the Association, has occupied a lot of my time. I feel very happy with where we are right now.

 

A good indicator of that is the fact that we were able to get our [Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2011] bill introduced recently and we're starting to develop good cosponsors for the bill. I wanted to make sure we had a team in place so that after we got the bill introduced, we could actually develop momentum for it, rather than just introducing it and letting it sit there.

 

I do find it disconcerting and am continually concerned about the inability of policymakers in Washington to recognize the value of ASCs in the system. I think the proposed CMS rule is yet another indication that they still do not understand the value of supporting this industry and the positive economic impact that ASCs could have on the system. We could be saving Medicare billions of dollars if they would do more to promote utilization in ASCs.

 

Q: What are your objectives and the objectives for ASCA for the rest of this year and going into 2012?

 

BP: At the top of my list is working with CMS on the proposed rule for this year and, in particular, the new quality reporting requirements. There are certainly some head-scratching elements to the proposed rule in terms of the timeframe they propose to implement quality reporting. So, we need to get straight with them, and we need to do that soon.

 

In addition, and slightly more long-term, we do have additional needs on the quality front. We have dramatically increased funding this year for the ASC Quality Collaboration (ASCQC). I think there's still more we need to do there. Quality is of incredible importance to this industry. We provide high quality care, and we must do a better job of proving that to policymakers and patients.

 

We must devote a lot of time and attention to how we can make the ASCQC as robust as possible in terms of developing additional quality measures that can get endorsed by the National Quality Forum. As we do, we need to make sure that we are reaching out to all stakeholders to assure we're all on the same page and are taking the right steps to measure quality at the facility level.

 

I also want to improve the educational resources we offer our facilities. Whether that is through phone seminars, webinars and the sessions we have at ASCA’s meetings throughout the year, or the publications and online resources we offer, I want to make sure we're providing our facilities with the tools that allow them to be successful and provide an optimal patient experience.

 

Q: What do you see as the other top challenges for ASCs going forward?

 

BP: We need to do a better job of promoting the value of using ASCs to policymakers. We do not receive the respect we deserve from policymakers. That's a continual challenge for us, and we need to make them understand what a valuable role we play, particularly in a time of scarce budget dollars. Part of that is lobbying, and part of it is communications. I think we need to do a better job of defining ASCs, whether that's through the media or directly to policymakers, and that's something we'll be spending a lot more time on as well going forward.

 

Q: What do you think individual ASCs should be doing to benefit themselves and the industry?

 

BP: First and foremost, ASCs need to join ASCA. The only way we, as an industry, are going to be able to achieve our shared goals is by working together. We are a small piece of the healthcare pie, and if we are not all working together, the likelihood of succeeding in our goals is pretty dim.

 

By working through the Association, joining ASCA and pooling our resources, ASCs will be better positioned for success. Every ASC must get involved, supporting ASCA’s advocacy efforts by participating in our grassroots efforts, which means meeting with members of Congress and state lawmakers and getting them to know and understand the ASC industry. We have the ability at the Association to help any center develop good relationships with their lawmakers and can give them the resources they need to explain to their lawmakers how valuable ASCs are to the healthcare system. If every ASC would take the few hours a year that it takes to support our advocacy efforts, there is no telling how much we could accomplish.

 

Learn more about ASCA.

 

More Articles Featuring the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association:

3 Things to Know About Medicare's 2012 Proposed Payment Rule for Surgery Centers

New Surgery Center Benchmarking Data: ASC Quality Collaboration Publishes Quality Report for 1st Quarter of 2011

ASC Association Submits Comments on Proposed ACO Rule

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