Volume is one key to improving profits, and sustaining a motivated and invested staff is also important, Ms. Arjoyan said. She recommends cross training nurses and staff to reduce labor costs. Adequate staffing also improves turnover time, and her staff members know to go home when their cases are completed to save costs.
Efficient scheduling is also key to making ophthalmology profitable. Hire a scheduler who is in constant contact with the physician’s office, she said, and use a block time release policy to provide the opportunity to fill open blocks. It is also crucial to know when your physicians are planning vacations or conferences so you can fill those blocks while they’re gone.
She also encourages ASCs to monitor supply costs and consider direct negotiation with large vendors or working with smaller vendors who are more inclined to give price breaks.
“The goal is to constantly improve efficiencies while containing costs,” she said.
It’s also important to renegotiate managed care contracts regularly and collect all co-pays and deductibles the day of surgery.
Ms. Arjoyan’s surgery center also expanded the scope of its practice to include glaucoma procedures, LASIK and retina to drive a growth in volume. Her surgery center also purchased a femtosecond laser to increase profits.
While the addition of retina procedures and the femtosecond laser have limitations, the benefits were worth the challenges for the high volume center. The laser allowed the center to increase its cataract volume and was a strong marketing tool for physician recruitment because of the competitive advantage it created.
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