There’s Still Time to Take Part in National ASC Month

Facilities, product manufacturers, management groups and professional associations across the country are celebrating National ASC Month in August, a time each year to highlight all the benefits that same-day surgical facilities offer their communities.

A quick search on LinkedIn, Facebook and other platforms will show how these stakeholders are highlighting their work. Vendors display their products; staff show photos of their booths at conferences; and facilities document their recent open houses – all under the banner of National ASC Month. The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society even shared a “legacy staff” post that spotlighted employees who have worked at facilities for nearly a half-century.

It’s not to late to get involved. A good resource to get started is a toolkit from the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, which includes suggestions for social media posts and hashtags as well as a blueprint for hosting tours for elected officials, governmental regulators and community leaders.

For David Shapiro, MD, CASC, a Florida-based anesthesiologist, the key to connecting with leaders who can help advance the ASC industry’s agenda is to get them in your building.

“ASCs have been around for more than 50 years now, but it's as important as ever to demonstrate on a first-person basis, as best we can, the actual importance and the realities of ambulatory surgery centers,” says Dr. Shapiro. “Because most regulators, legislators and community leaders have no idea about what we’re really like, even if they pass one on the way to work or while picking up their kids every day.”

Most people who haven’t had procedures at ASCs think of them as impersonal, sterile, institutional hospital-like settings.

“They just don’t have any visual image of how bright, shiny and polished our facilities are,” says Dr. Shapiro. “That’s why having someone physically in your center is hundreds of times more effective than meeting with them at a remote location to sketch out what you do. Once they visit and see how up to date our equipment is and how nice the staff is, they always leave and speaking glowingly about ASCS.”

Targeting key lawmakers for visits is important, so they’ll be on your side when push comes to shove on key issues, says Dr. Shapiro, who suggests not limiting tours to elected officials. State regulators are important allies as well, he says.

If your visitor is a federal official, make sure the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act is on the agenda. Passage of the act would ensure that Medicare beneficiaries continue to have access to high-quality outpatient surgical care. Discuss all its important aspects and how it would benefit the industry, says Dr. Shapiro. OSM