AS I SEE IT


ASCs Prove to Be a Vital Resource during the Pandemic Caring for our communities as we fight COVID-19 BY MARK WAINNER


When COVID-19 began threatening the health of our nation, the ASC com- munity was impacted immediately. Consistent


with the guidelines issued by the US surgeon general and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in March 2019, all non-essential elec- tive procedures were postponed. For Amsurg, a division of Envision Health- care and a national leader in outpatient care, patient care slowed dramatically. Even though many of our ASCs closed, we did not stop helping our communities. ASCs play a crucial role in providing essential surgeries and supporting the health and well-being of our communities. When we view ASCs as a vital resource, there are so many ways in which they can thrive. As we head into 2021, we will keep fighting COVID-19. ASCs must con- tinue to operate with enhanced safety protocols, remain flexible and be pres- ent to provide care to patients when and where it is needed most.


Put Care Quality and Patient Safety First With COVID-19, it is imperative that we maintain high quality and safety standards. When we first ramped up procedures and reopened our ASCs, we created a toolkit to share with our centers. This toolkit outlined all the safety precautions our teams were tak- ing and how to share these new proto- cols with patients. ASCs must focus on patient education, tell patients how the center is screening for COVID-19 and putting social distancing protocols and other measures in place to protect both patients and the staff.


Support Your Community as Best You Can When elective surgeries were paused and our colleagues working in the hos- pitals were treating all the COVID- 19 patients, we immediately shifted our efforts to support them. From pro- viding personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators to transitioning essential procedures from the hospitals to our ASCs, we were prepared. This flex plan remains in place and we con- tinue to evaluate how we can provide support as hot spots across the coun- try emerge.


Operating during a pandemic requires an ASC to maintain the highest quality and safety protocols while also thinking outside the box.”


—Mark Wainner, Amsurg


Patient care starts well before patients check in for their procedure. In advance of patients’ arrival, make sure they complete all appropriate paper- work, know wearing a mask is man- datory, make arrangements with fam- ily members if they are not allowed in the waiting room and understand fully what their perioperative care entails. We also follow up with each patient immediately after the procedure and within 30 days postop.


10 ASC FOCUS JANUARY 2021 | ascfocus.org


Some of the scheduled procedures traditionally performed in a hospital outpatient department setting might be more appropriate, cost-effective and convenient for patients in the outpa- tient setting. In addition to taking cases a hospital is not able to take because of COVID-19, evaluate whether there are new procedures and technologies that enable an ASC to enhance its suite of offerings to patients. Look at the ever-expanding list of codes and deter- mine what you have the capacity to take on—again, patient safety and care quality remain paramount.


Plan for Below-Average Volumes The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted communities differently. Some ASCs are trending ahead of last year’s volume and some are behind. Amsurg has more than 250 centers in 34 states and the District of Columbia. While patient volumes returned much faster than we anticipated, we were not quite at the same aggregate level in October 2020 as we were in October 2019. Patient visits also have varied by specialty. For example, ophthalmology has been slower to return. With fewer


The advice and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent official Ambulatory Surgery Center Association policy or opinion.


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