ADVOCACY SPOTLIGHT


One-on-One with an ASCA Board Member Amanda Hawkins, CASC, talks about participating in the HWOW program INTERVIEWED BY SAHELY MUKERJI


Amanda Hawkins, CASC, director of The Surgery Center of Charleston in Charleston,


South Car- olina, joined the ASCA


Board of Directors in 2019. She will serve a three-year term. All members of the ASCA Board also serve on the ASCA Foundation Board.


background and why you joined the ASCA Board. Amanda Hawkins (AH): The ASCA community is unique, driven and enthusiastic. I have continued to be impressed with what ASCs have done to evolve our healthcare com- munity. I knew I wanted to make a meaningful contribution and be a bigger part of ASCA.


Q Tell me about your I had to broaden my understanding


of ASCA and its advocacy and commit myself to learn more. I lobbied on Cap- itol Hill for South Carolina with Sen- ator Tim Scott (R-SC), Senator Lind- sey Graham (R-SC), former governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford and US Representative Tom Rice (R-SC- 7th District) in 2015. I volunteered to participate on a committee and then, after my experience with the commit- tee, applied to join the Board. I did not make it on the Board the first time but tried again.


I have been heavily involved in my state association and also have served on the ASCAPAC Board to gain expe- rience with the association. So far, my experience has been exceptional. I have had the opportunity to work with the most outstanding leaders in this industry, confronting challenges and making a difference in our ASC community. I will continue to commit


26 ASC FOCUS APRIL 2021 | ascfocus.org


could and were one of the first ASCs that gained approval. The policy was announced on March 30, 2020, and the Centers for Medicare & Medic- aid Services (CMS) has our partici- pation start date as March 31, 2020.


Q How difficult was it to get set up as a HWOW?


myself to the ASCA Board and Foun- dation promoting the ASC community and its continued success.


Q Why did you pursue the option to become a Hospitals Without


Walls (HWOW) participant? AH: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we were facing a time and a pan- demic that our ASC and our entire healthcare system had never seen before. The challenges were begin- ning to pile up. Our center contin- ued communication with local hospi- tals to ask what we could do to help, would we share our equipment and ventilators, would we share staff, did we need to close, how were we going to continue to care for our commu- nity, being able to offer safe, high- quality care? We wanted the flexi- bility to continue to do what we do best—outpatient surgery—but also be able to free up the valuable hospi- tal space needed to care for COVID- 19 patients. When HWOW was released, we signed up as soon as we


AH: The set up was slow at first, we were facing the unknown. It took a few weeks to get approval from our Medi- care administrative contractor (MAC) and our state to participate. We were educating our MAC and the state about the program and asking ques- tions about the attestation process, but ultimately there were no answers. We were in the unknown. The program has evolved since we signed up. They do have answers now and are allowing for additional flexibility.


Q What types of cases were you able to perform as an HWOW


participant that you could not perform as an ASC? AH: We have been able to perform a few additional cases we were pre- viously unable to for Medicare ben- eficiaries that we were performing safely and successfully for our com- mercial payers, such as removal of thyroid (60271) and repeat thyroid surgery (60260).


Q What benefits did your participation in the HWOW


program bring to your community? AH: We have been able to consistently provide access to surgical care in our community. We are here and willing, and we are the backup in the event the hospital has a surge. Most importantly we are showing CMS what we can do.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34