Through the years at Surgery Center Services of America we have come across common questions from physicians looking to venture into their first Ambulatory Surgery Center. We have compiled those questions about the ASC industry, in hopes of giving you further insight.
1. How can ASCs thrive today?
There are three keys that a surgery center does well in and you must ensure that you excel in. The first being productivity for the physicians who work there. Saving money for the payer, showing the ability to remove an expensive case from a more expensive hospital and working with the payer on reimbursement is a powerful tactic. Third, the patient experience that is delivered. They are there for higher quality care and a superior patient experience.
2. Can an independent survive in the ASC industry?
Factors to take into account here is the market in your region and the ability of leadership for the ASC. The leadership’s ability to pay attention to their market and learn from other surgery centers that have thrived is key. For a better understanding from a financial standpoint a Feasibility Assessment can be generated, SCSA offers free Feasibility Assessments.
3. How do the most successful ASCs approach leadership?
Running an ASC is a full time job in and of itself, this requires a unique physician or set of physicians who are willing to put in the extra time and effort, while being business savvy, in order to produce growth in a surgery center.
4. What specialties are still great in ASCs?
Regarding specialties, we see a wide variety from ophthalmology and orthopedics to GI. What matters most in this instance is the surgeons you are working with. A winning recipe is a surgeon who is accomplished, busy, and successful. Working with surgeons who have an academic outlook and are not accustomed to a practice oriented on productivity, these types of surgeons will find the pace needed for an ASC, challenging.
5. Which is more desirable: single or multi-specialty ASCs?
This all depends on your market, if within your region there are a limited number of specialists within your given specialty this can create inefficiencies due to a lack of use for the physical plans of the center. In instances where there is a lack of one particular specialist in geographic area creating a multi-specialty ASC can be a great move. What you have to consider in this scenario is that the different specialties are able to efficiently function in one ASC, when this is accomplished an ASC can become extremely effective at generating revenue.