COVER STORY
Share the ASC Story
Join state associations and participate in benchmarking and National Advocacy Days BY ROBERT KURTZ
A
2013 study of Medicare data by research scientists at the Univer- sity of California-Berkeley found that in just four years, between 2008 and 2011, ASCs saved the Medicare pro- gram and its beneficiaries $7.5 billion. In 2011 alone, they report, the sav- ings to Medicare and its beneficiaries totaled $2.3 billion.
A separate analysis of commercial medical claims data conducted in 2016 by health care price and quality solu- tions provider Health Care Bluebook in partnership with health-plan solu- tion provider HealthSmart found that ASCs help reduce US health care costs by $38 billion per year. The driver of that cost reduction, the study reveals, is that ASC prices are significantly lower than hospital outpatient department (HOPD) prices for the same procedure in all markets, regardless of payer.
This year, health economists Eliz- abeth L. Munnich and Stephen T. Par- ente published a study that looked at the quality of care ASCs provide. They found that, even when patient acuity is controlled for, patients treated in an ASC are less likely to be admitted to a hospital or visit an emergency room a short time after outpatient surgery. They also concluded that their find- ings indicate ASCs provide high- quality services and suggest that pro- moting greater use of ASCs may lead to health care cost savings and overall welfare gains.
Confronted with this research and
her own personal experience as admin- istrator of Dallas Endoscopy Center in Dallas, Texas, Susan Cheek, CASC, says, “The story about ASCs and what they do for patients is compelling, and
10 ASC FOCUS SEPTEMBER 2018 |
www.ascfocus.org
it is up to ASCs to help make sure that story is told.” “ASC are the high-quality, lower-
cost provider that delivers exceptional surgical services to patients and saves them and the health care industry a significant amount of money every year,” says Cheek, who also is pres- ident of the Texas Ambulatory Sur- gery Center Society. “This needs to be more widely known so that patients can make better informed choices about their care.” Building awareness about the ben-
efits that ASCs offer is more impor- tant today than ever, says Saul Epstein chief financial officer and controller of ParkCreek Surgery Center in Coconut Creek, Florida, and Delray Beach Sur- gery Center in Delray Beach, Florida. Patients are taking a more active role in decisions concerning their health care, he says, but most currently lack an understanding about ASCs. “People are spending more time researching their options on the Inter-
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