7 Key Components of Successful Spine Outpatient Surgery Centers

At the 10th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference in Chicago on June 15, Devin Datta, MD, of Crane Creek Surgery Center gave a presentation titled “Complex Revision Spine Surgery and ALIFs, TLIFs, DLIFs in ASCs — Lessons Learned, Mistakes to Avoid, Tips to Consider.”

Dr. Datta discussed the process for patient care at the surgery center versus the hospital. “When a patient comes in for a one-level laminectomy, the first hour postoperatively the patient is in bed — similar to when they are in the hospital — but then during the second to fourth hour we have the patient up and moving while at the hospital they are still waiting for the bed. In the hospital they may not get up for therapy until 24 hours postoperatively. That’s my argument for performing procedures in the ASC”

Dr. Datta and his partner, Richard Hynes, MD, perform several procedures in the surgery center, including anterior work and a slightly modified technique going more through the oblique area. “OLIF is a technique that my partner and I have been working on in Melbourne,” he said. “The oblique fashion is similar to the anterior procedure and I think this operation is ideal as anything for outpatient surgery.”

To bring spine procedures into an ASC, Dr. Datta suggests:

1. Aggressive use of anesthetics
2. Confident surgeons
3. Good neuromonitoring
4. Proper table for positioning
5. Enhanced pain control
6. High patient satisfaction
7. Ability to accommodate for cash-pay patients

“For our current cases, we will do basically anything in the surgery center at one or two level in the hospital we can do in the ASC if we have the right patient and payor,” said Dr. Datta. “For cash pay patients, I want to see us have the price ready so when the patients come in with cash we can easily give them a price.”

To grow the ASC, Dr. Datta suggests direct-to-patient marketing. “I’m a big believer to direct–to-consumer marketing,” he said. “You have to market directly to patients. That’s something we are trying to focus on.”

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