MESSAGE FROM THE CEO Invite Your Legislator to Your ASC on National ASC Day I
n recognition of National ASC Day on August 19, ASCs across the country will invite their members of Congress and other state and national policymakers to
their facilities. Is your ASC taking part in ASC Day? It is a small investment of your time that can help secure the future of your ASC and your patients’ right to choose where they receive their surgical care. What ASCA staff see on Capitol Hill is not opposition to the ASC message
but a lack of awareness. Hosting a tour of your center for a policymaker gives you the opportunity to show them firsthand the benefits that your ASC provides and educate them about how ASCs fit into our health care system. In addition, it creates a personal connection between you and your elected officials, who can directly affect ASC-related legislation and regulations. Events like these raise the profile of ASCs in the health care marketplace and ensure support during key policy-making processes. Rob Schwartz, director of public policy at Proliance Surgeons, which operates
ASCs in Washington state, suggests that one of the most effective tools that an ASC can use to help visitors understand the valuable services and high-quality care that they provide is to invite their visitors to change into scrubs, “By getting a legislator to put on scrubs, you are changing their paradigm. They are in your house now. Psychologically, they relate.” Tallgrass Surgical Center in Topeka, Kansas, hosted a facility tour in 2013,
and Nancy Henry from the center described it as an “easy and extraordinarily rewarding experience.” ASC professionals who have conducted tours in the past say that Henry’s experience is typical. The tours give policymakers an opportunity to learn about the many benefits
Download your free 2015 quality reporting tip sheet at
www.ascassociation.org/ 2015QualityReportingRequirements.
Seeking Authors
ASC Focus is seeking the contribution of articles by guest authors. If you have the expertise and time to write for us, we’d be interested in hearing from you. Please see our editorial guidelines at
www.ascassociation.org/Focus and submit your story proposal to
smukerji@ascassociation.org.
6 ASC FOCUS AUGUST 2015
that ASCs as small businesses offer their communities. They also give ASC owners a chance to tell their legislators about the most important issues that affect their facility and the entire ASC community. In the past two years, more than half of the members of Congress who visited a center cosponsored the ASC Quality and Access Act, which is a clear indicator that when ASCs tell their story, legislators listen. To schedule a tour for a member of Congress, call or email your senator or representative’s local district office. Members of Congress want to meet with constituents, so a simple ask with a follow-up is usually all that it takes to get a tour. ASCA can help with this process; if you have questions or need help, contact Jack Coleman, ASCA grassroots manager, at
jcoleman@ascassociation.org.
Bill Prentice Chief Executive Officer
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