Trends To Watch in 2024

As the outpatient surgery environment continues to evolve post-pandemic, the healthcare professionals who serve the many patients who are taking advantage of these same-day surgery services need to keep track of the changes and issues that affect this world. From major reimbursement changes that require leaders’ attention to cybersecurity threats to procedures that are moving to outpatient facilities – including robotics, complex spine and GYN cases – surgical leaders can expect a lot of new activity in 2024.

The editors at Outpatient Surgery Magazine spoke to a host of OR leaders to ascertain the key trends for the upcoming year and concluded that the changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) were top-of-mind as these affect potential patient volume. Starting in January, ambulatory surgery centers can now provide total shoulder replacements and other procedures to older Americans on federal health insurance.

The CMS decision to include two surgical codes that will add total shoulder replacements to its ASC-approved list was big news. The agency that administers the money for Medicare coverage for Americans at least 65 years old did not include total shoulder arthroplasty in its preliminary proposal release in September, so the additions were welcome.

According to Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) CEO Bill Prentice, “ASCA staff and members have been talking with CMS officials for years about the safety and efficacy of adding procedures like total shoulder arthroscopy and total ankle arthroscopy to the ASC Covered Procedures List. We are thankful to the agency for adding those and more than 30 other procedures for 2024, but there is more work to be done to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to all the care they can appropriately receive in surgery centers.”

In all, CMS added 11 CPT codes to its ASC-approved list that weren’t in the federal agency’s proposed Final Rule for 2024. In addition to the two codes for total shoulder replacements, codes were added to allow Medicare reimbursement for total ankle replacement, as well as codes pertaining to hip tendon incision, meniscal knee replacement and repeat thyroid surgery, according to a CMS announcement of its plan for next year. Twenty-six new dental codes are included as well.

Another enormous concern for surgical leaders in 2024 is cybersecurity. According to the Outpatient Surgery Magazine article, “Attacks in 2023 were incessant and increasingly sophisticated, and as each month passed another facility or health system would announce a breach of their data.”

The weakest link in cybersecurity is the human factor and investing in staff training is the most important deterrent. Criminals are also now increasingly using AI and “deepfakes” to spoof the voices and even appearances of people the target knows. The traps are ubiquitous and always include a sense of urgency.

Perhaps the biggest trend to watch for in 2024 is the continued growth of procedures being offered to patients in the ASC setting. In fact, the ASC community is taking on more procedures as same-day spine surgery, robotic GYN and cardiovascular cases are added to the offerings – and as technology and new innovations offer new options in other specialties. Minimally invasive procedures also are developing as new surgeries services appear on the landscape. For 2024, leaders are juggling a myriad of significant changes to keep their facilities on track – and build for their futures. For more click here. OSM