Same-Day Surgery – June 1, 2014
June 1, 2014
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Can’t afford a new surgery center? Maybe your competitors can help you
Rather than having the expense of each opening an outpatient surgery center, three healthcare organization in Nashua, NH, created a joint-venture center. -
Technology helps cut readmission rates
With the help of personalized recorded discharge information and educational videos available to patients by telephone or computer, Cullman (AL) Regional Hospital has reduced 30-day readmissions by 15% and increased scores on the discharge section of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) by 63%. -
Patients create their own estimates
Patients at Danville, PA-based Geisinger Health System can create their own estimates online via a self-serve portal, MyEstimate. -
Implementation delayed of 1 quality measure
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will delay implementation of the new quality reporting measure ASC-11, Cataracts: Improvement in Patients Visual Function within 90 Days Following Cataract Surgery, until Jan. 1, 2015, according to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). -
Patch for SGR, delay of ICD-10 signed
President Obama has signed a one-year patch for the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula to postpone a 24% cut in Medicare payments to physicians that had been scheduled to take effect April 1, 2014, according to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). -
CDC: Test your staff for Hep B immunity on hire
A growing number of healthcare workers are coming into their professions with childhood vaccination against the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Yet 5% to 10% of them might unknowingly be non-responders, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). -
Where is the compassion for our patients?
Most facilities now have online registration. Great! I want to see that expanded. Some facilities outsource the patient assessment also. Even better! It allows the patient to respond to medical questions in the comfort of their homes where they do not feel rushed. That gives us more accurate information. -
HHS confirms billions of cost savings tied to ASCs
In a just-released report, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that outpatient surgical procedures that do not pose significant risk to patients performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have saved Medicare more than $1 billion in each of the last several years.