FEATURE
be. Having our physicians as pediat- ric physicians and owners also helps with staying focused on what needs to get done for the patient. We are lucky to have doctors here that put their pa- tients first in all decisions.” Ulm says that the owners of PSC
make sure that their team is well prepared to take care of the ASC’s young patients by investing in staff and training.
“In addition to me as the admin-
istrator, there’s a dedicated qual- ity manager who spends a lot of her time making sure we’re follow- ing accreditation guidelines, and we have an infection control nurse,” she says. “Three of us are Certified Ad- ministrator Surgery Center (CASC) credentialed, our quality manager is training to become an Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care surveyor and we have three team members who are licensed health care risk managers. The own- ership supports all of us. They re- ally believe in education. They send us every year to ASCA’s meeting so that we have the latest education. Everybody is PALS trained through- out the building. “This dedication by the ownership
translates into our staff never being nervous regarding surveyors or inspec- tors walking in the door,” Ulm contin- ues. “Someone can walk in my door any time, and that’s one of the nicest things about working here. I never feel panicked. I also have the privilege of having an anesthesiologist as one of the owners. This situation has helped me work more effectively with the other doctors. The physicians all un- derstand our rules and regulations in keeping both our patients and facility safe—they all just get it.” Ulm says this commitment trans- lates to a working environment that provides the kind of quality care the families of these young patients should expect to receive from an ASC.
18 ASC FOCUS APRIL 2013 “The caveat in pediatrics is having
expert nurses and doctors. Most ev- eryone at PSC has years of experience in children’s hospitals so they know what to look for, we know what ques- tions to ask and how to make taking care of children work well. You have to have that so that you can not only provide exceptional care, you can also make it look easy.”
Surgical Institute of Monroe (Monroe, Michigan)
You have the ability to, within the guidelines and structure of running a compliant ASC, take away the anxiety-producing behavior in children.”
—Theresa Ulm, Pediatric Surgery Centers, Brandon, Florida
The Surgical Institute of Monroe in Monroe, Michigan, does not rely on pediatrics to the same extent as PSC or even ENT Surgery Center of Atlan- ta. Less than 10 percent of the ASC’s billing is for pediatrics cases, says Mary Cunningham, RN, administra- tor for the surgery center. The ASC averages around 40 pediatric cases a month. Almost all of those cases are in ENT.
Despite making up a small per- centage of its patient population, the
ASC has made a number of invest- ments to make certain that it can take care of children safely and effectively. “We decided to have a bedside cart
in each of the pediatric bays with re- spiratory supplies specific to pediat- rics so that the staff doesn’t have to rush anywhere other than to the crash cart for any emergency pediatric sup- plies,” Cunningham says. “So we have some extra expenses in the bedside tables and extra stock of pediatric airway supplies. Also, when we were
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