Same-Day Surgery Manager: Time to celebrate reimbursement changes?
Time to celebrate reimbursement changes?
Q&A: Expansion, investors, and late staff
By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
CEO
Earnhart & Associates
Austin, TX
Question: We looked at the new rates for surgery center reimbursement and were delighted to see the increase in our procedure reimbursement. Is it safe to open the champagne?
Answer: Keep the cork in the bottle. There are still many months of politicking and lobbying efforts to go on both sides of the issue. About the only thing you can count on is that what we see today we will not see in 2008.
Question: I'm sick of putting up with the hospital politics. Do you have any job openings?
Answer: Believe me; the grass is not always greener. We all have to put up with politics. At least you get to be at home at night.
Question: We are expanding our hospital inpatient operating rooms. I have tried to explain to our administration that we need to add more area for outpatient surgery instead of inpatient. What are the trends for outpatient surgery vs. inpatient?
Answer: Obviously, there are many factors included in your question to consider, but the short answer is that you should be expanding your outpatient areas more than inpatient.
Question: How many cases can be done in a surgery center operating room? We are expanding, but don't know how many rooms to add. Got any free advice?
Answer: Sure. On average, you can perform between 1,000 to 1,500 cases per year per operating room. Typically, you can do about 2,500 gastrointestinal (GI) cases per year per GI room. More free advice: You typically can plan on three to four cataract cases per hour per room if you flip-flop rooms.
Question: What is the best way to deal with chronically late staff members? We have tried changing their shifts, giving them flex hours, and offering free wake-up services, all to no avail. What other ideas might work?
Answer: Try this: Fire them! Chronically late staff members have no respect for their jobs or the people they work for or with. Kick them out the door and be done with them.
Question: Is it common for all surgeons to own a piece of a surgery center? We have lots of surgeons at our center that do not. So why do they use it? I feel silly asking anyone around here because I think I should know the answer.
Answer: Most surgeons at surgery centers are not investors in the operating entity of the center. While they usually are given an opportunity to invest if they wish, many do not for a variety of reasons. If you have many noninvestors using your center, they probably are there because of your efficiency and great staff members like yourself.
(Editor's note: Earnhart & Associates is an ambulatory surgery consulting firm specializing in all aspects of surgery center development and management. Contact Earnhart at 3112 Windsor Road, Suite A-242, Austin, TX 78703. E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.earnhart.com.)
Question: We looked at the new rates for surgery center reimbursement and were delighted to see the increase in our procedure reimbursement. Is it safe to open the champagne?Subscribe Now for Access
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