National ASC Month is Here!

Celebrate the same-day care you and your peers are offering at nearly 6,000 facilities across the country.

Outpatient surgery is always in the news. At any point in time, a quick online search will reveal articles such as a new ASC construction project about to break ground in California, the 1,000th joint replacement that just took place at a facility in Wisconsin, the new robot soon to arrive at an ASC in Texas and the first smart implant recently placed in a patient in North Carolina.

Despite the reporting on this steady and exciting growth, and even though the first freestanding ambulatory surgery center was opened by two physicians in Phoenix in 1970 – more than a half-century ago – the overall awareness of outpatient surgery as a growing industry is sometimes alarmingly low.

August is National ASC Month, which is designed to celebrate the many benefits of increasingly complex same-day surgeries provided to millions of patients at nearly 6,000 facilities across the country, The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) suggests that facilities hold open houses for community members and schedule tours for their local state representatives and other elected officials.

“For the last decade, ASCs have promoted awareness of these contributions by opening their doors to their communities and hosting National ASC Month events,” say ASCA officials in a statement. “By hosting an event in your community, you can educate key policy and decision makers about the benefits of ASCs and encourage public awareness of your ASC.”

Many people in the community might not know you’re there, or that outpatient surgery even exists. But there’s certainly no shortage of information you can provide to them. You could explain the benefits of outpatient surgery and how it’s an affordable, convenient alternative to a hospital stay and how patients are safer from infection while recovering at home. Tell the specific story of how your center came to be and characterize its space in your community. Share a patient’s successful journey from being in need of surgery and explain how they’re now able to get back to the local park, gym or public garden they missed and love. ASCA’s ASC timeline is a helpful resource to explain the history of freestanding surgery centers in the U.S.

You also could give lawmakers insight into how pending legislation would impact your patients who are their constituents. For example, the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act reintroduced to Congress in February would modify Medicare payments to ASCs to align them more closely with the higher federal reimbursements given to hospital outpatient departments.

Nikki Williams, RN, CNOR, executive director of the Lakeland Surgical & Diagnostic Center in Florida, says all well-run ASCs have a wide array of benefits to show off during open houses and facility tours. Among them: a staff trained to get their patients in and out of the procedures in a safe, efficient and convenient manner – all while offering lower out-of-pocket costs than surgical alternatives.

“When you have an ASC that is rooted in the community, patients are able to return many times for repeat procedures,” adds Ms. Williams. “Patients trust their doctors and they trust the facilities that the doctors choose to work at, particularly those with accreditations that give patients reassurance that the ASC is doing things the right way.” OSM