In this episode, we will dive into nine noteworthy news stories that have been making waves in the ever-evolving surgery center industry. We’ll bounce between industry trends, clinical trends, articles looking back at 2023, and articles looking ahead to what 2024 will bring. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Ozempic could be good for orthopedic surgeons

Medicare Introduces New ASC Procedure Request Process

10 ways ASCs can counteract rising supply costs

HIPAA Biannual Update

Why GIs aren't dropping Medicare patients

HST Pathways Ranked #1 in the 2024 Best in KLAS: Software & Services Report

Fulfillment and Frustration: Medscape Nurse Career Satisfaction Report 2023

Joint Commission, AAAHC Experts Offer Simple Hacks to Improve Accreditation Surveys

Iowa Hospice Nurse Tiffany McArdle Walks Through Blizzard to Reach Patient

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Running a surgery center is extremely challenging, and one element that adds to the challenge is collecting, aggregating, and reporting on quality measures. While there are many measures to stay on top of, Kathy Wilson, the Executive Director at the ASC Quality Collaboration, is on today to talk about the measure “Wrong Site, Wrong Side, Wrong Patient, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Implant.” A few weeks ago, we sourced questions from all of you for Kathy to answer, so we covered topics such as best practices for collecting the data, how to make sure you’re not over-reporting or under-reporting, the importance of benchmarking, and everything in between.

After our conversation with Kathy, we’ll switch to our Data & Insights segment. Today, we’ll cover OR block time, and take a look at the amount of blocked OR time that remains unused, and how you can overcome this challenge.

Resources Mentioned:

Visit the ASCQC’s website for free benchmarking and toolkits: https://www.ascquality.org/home

Download HST’s State of the Industry Report to get your hands on even more data: https://www.hstpathways.com/resources/surgery-center-industry-report

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Marsha Diamond is the Director of Coding Solutions at Aideo Technologies, and we had the opportunity to talk with her about how AI can be used to reduce payor denials. There is a ton of AI talk going on, and it can feel overwhelming trying to understand what it is and how it can be woven into our lives, but Marsha did a great job breaking it down for us. We covered how AI can be used to avoid the most common causes for denials, which of course, would ultimately help you increase speed to revenue. We also chatted about the accuracy of AI and challenges you may face.

In our news recap, we’ll cover nimble’s new CEO, Kelley Blair, the cybersecurity threats that medical devices may impose, how ASCs can benefit from physician burnout at hospitals, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about six sisters going through nursing school together.

Articles Mentioned:

• nimble solutions Appoints New CEO
• Medical devices could be hacked next, officials fear
• Physicians are fed up — and ASCs may have an edge
• The Lawrence Sisters Purse Dream of Becoming Nurses Together

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

BJ DiMartini is the CEO of Excel Health, and he has been working hard to open new surgery centers in Hawaii and Washington. But BJ and his team are doing things a little differently – they are building their facilities with a true concierge approach and leaning into the growing trend around medical tourism. BJ shared the specialties they will offer, how he’s sourcing physicians and attracting patients, the potential challenges they will face, and everything in between.

After our conversation with BJ, we’ll switch to our Data & Insights segment. Today, we’ll cover case cancellation rates, including the average cancellation rate that ASCs are experiencing, tips for preventing cancellations, and how to identify trends and improve your rates.

Studies/Reports Mentioned:

• Contributing factors of elective surgical case cancellation
• Global prevalence and reasons for case cancellation on the intended day of surgery
• State of the Industry Report

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

At the end of every podcast episode, we always ask our guests, "What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?"

For this week’s episode, we compiled the most recent responses we’ve had, bringing together the best advice from 11 different ASC leaders.

We hope everyone enjoys this round-up of practical, innovative ideas. A huge thank you to our featured guests, in order of appearance:

• Maura Cash
• Gavin Fabian
• Betsy Grunch
• Michael McClain
• Beata Canby
• Gregory DeConciliis
• Katie Sypher
• Mike Tompkins
• Joan Dentler
• Hilary Sondik
• Nader Samii

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Every ASC is required to hold a quarterly board meeting in order to stay in compliance and remain accredited. Nader Samii, CEO of nimble, is on today to talk through how you can make those meetings as impactful, productive, and engaging as possible. He walks through how to properly prepare, the essential financial metrics you should always include, how to get ahead of potential surprises, and a bunch of other topics so you can look forward to these meetings instead of just going through the motions.

In our news recap, we’ll cover strategies to make your operating room more sustainable, what’s going on with the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, the latest on EHR adoption, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about an emergency nurse in Arizona who went above and beyond the call of duty to save a man’s life.

Lastly, this will be our last episode in 2023! Our next episode will be published on January 9th. 2024 and will be a highlight reel of 12 of our most recent guests answering the question, “What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?”

Here is some content to hold you over through the two-week break:

• Six quick videos highlighting benchmarking data
• State of the Industry Report
• Watch one of our most popular episodes of the year

Articles Mentioned:

• Operation Room Strategies for Sustainability
• House Passes Healthcare Transparency Bill
• Trend to Watch: Is EHR Adoption Critical for ASCs?
• An ED Nurse Crosses Busy Freeway to Save a Life

Thank you so much for all your support this year, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and New Year’s celebration. We will see you again in 2024.

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Hilary Sondik is the Executive Vice President of Operations at Surgical Notes, and today we are doing a deep dive into the key revenue cycle management (RCM) reports that every ASC should be tracking in 2024. We’ll break it down by frequency, so we’ll lay out what reports you should be running daily, weekly, monthly, and annually, and then Hilary will spend some time sharing the positive impacts you’ll see on your revenue cycle by doing so.

Instead of our usual News Recap, we have a brand-new segment in the podcast today called Data & Insights! Moving forward, we will alternate weekly between sharing the news and sharing a new piece of data and why that data matters. In September, HST released a State of the Industry Report with so many insights & data points & KPIs, so we thought this would be a great way to break down those key pieces of data and share them in bite-sized chunks. So today, we’ll kick off this first segment by diving into the Average Pre-Authorization Rates we’re seeing so you can see how you compare to your peers.

Resources Mentioned:

• Next-Generation ASC Analytics in Action
• HST’s State of the Industry Report (jump to Patient Journey: Pre-Day of Service!)

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Kara Newbury is the Director of Government Affairs and Regulatory Counsel at ASCA, and we had the chance to chat with her about CMS’ recently released 2024 Final Payment Rule. We covered reimbursement rates, updates to the ASC Covered Procedures List, quality reporting changes, OAS-CAHPS, and other essential details all ASCs should know.

In our news recap, we’ll cover five moves that shook up the ASC industry in 2023, the debate over the root cause of current staffing issues, the data revolution taking place, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a college student who found a kidney donor through TikTok.

Articles Mentioned:

5 moves that shook up the ASC industry in 2023

Where are all the nurses? Hospitals, advocates disagree on crisis

Trend to Watch: Data Revolution

State of the Industry Report: Best Practices & Proven Data for Optimizing ASC Operations

Woman finds kidney donor through TikTok

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Joan Dentler is the Founder of Avanza Healthcare Strategies, and she joins our host, Nick Latz, this week to dive into their 5th Annual Hospital Leadership ASC Survey. Nick and Joan discuss the survey results, including key conclusions and trends around ASC ownership, hospitals and health systems’ growing interest in ASCs, what equity breakouts look like, where third-party management companies come into play, and much more.

Read & Download the Full Avanza Intelligence 2023 Hospital Leadership ASC Survey

In our news recap, we’ll cover a terrible act of violence against a surgeon in Tennessee and tips for preventing violence at your facility, a lawsuit between UCLA Health and Mattel, surgeons in New York who have performed the first-ever whole-eye transplant in a human, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a woman who created a hummingbird hospital.

Articles Mentioned:

The Tragic Murder of Dr. Ben Mauck

Implement Security Safeguards

UCLA Health sues Barbie-maker over $49M donation pledge

Surgeons in New York Announce World's First Eye Transplant

The woman who turned her apartment into a hummingbird hospital

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Mike Tompkins is a Client Services Manager at in2itive, and we had a chance to talk through the intricate world of payment posting in ASCs, mainly focusing on commercial payers. If this is still a manual process for you and you are spending time reconciling payments on the backend of your billing system, then you’ll learn a lot in this episode about how automating those processes can improve the accuracy and efficiency of the entire billing process and get you paid faster.

In our news recap, we’ll cover some preliminary findings from Avanza Healthcare Strategies’ Hospital Leadership ASC Survey, what HCA shared at their investor day, how to prepare for OAS CAHPS, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a nurse who saved a man’s life on the side of the road.

Articles Mentioned:

ASC ownership is shifting: What leaders need to know

HCA outlines plans to expand market share by 2030

Patient Experience Survey to Become Mandatory Soon

Approved OAS-CAHPS Survey Vendors

NJ ICU Nurse Joyce Park Saves Life of Car Accident Victim

Brought to you by HST Pathways.