Q: What has been the biggest challenge in keeping down costs?
Dr. Nick Marassi: The biggest challenge is probably that our physicians want all the latest new toys. They hear about some new whiz-bang thing and of course they want to have it. That’s problematic because the cost of purchasing that equipment is higher than the facility’s reimbursement from payors. The orthopedic surgeons are in tune with some of the newest anchors or tacks, which have to do with repairing a shoulder injury and are basically considered implants. They come often to me about that. Or there may be a new flexible screw for clavicle repair. They’re fairly expensive and can sometimes be $1,600 for one implantable screw.
Q: What has Kemp Surgery Center done to overcome the challenge of meeting physicians’ requests while keeping costs down?
NM: We have a committee that looks at whether there is value added at the facility upon purchasing that item. A physician has to make a request, and once they make a request for it, we have a committee that gets together to look at the literature that either supports or doesn’t support whether there is value added. It looks at objective data and not just information from the vendor representative to see how it assists in the treatment or not. If the literature support that purchase, then we’ll go ahead and get it, but sometimes we tell the physicians they have to take those patients to the hospital.
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