Jeff Leland, managing director of Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners, identifies five ways ASCs unintentionally waste money.
1. Unmonitored payor contracts. When Mr. Leland begins working with an ASC not performing well, "I am flabbergasted with how little attention has been paid to payor contracts," he says. "Once they've signed a contract they put them in the file cabinet and never look at them again." At Blue Chip, "we look at contracts all the time." For example, the ASC may have expanded procedures and the contract needs to reflect that.
2. Unmanaged working hours. With case volumes down, many ASCs are not managing hours of work as well as they could. If cases are down by 20 percent, for example, the operation shouldn't have the same head count. Some staff should be put on part-time hours or let got.
3. Failing to revisit supply contracts. "The best prices available six months ago may not be the best prices you can get today," Mr. Leland says. That's because vendors have become hungrier. If the ASC revisited the supply agreement it could probably get better prices today.
4. Big holes in scheduling. An ASC with a lot of holes in the schedule is wasting a great deal of money on staff and other operational expenses. One solution is to "compress" the schedule by closing down operations for a day.
5. Not using the best OR staff. Using the same staff for every procedure won't impress surgeons or patients. If certain staff members are better suited for a certain procedure, then book those cases together and bring this team in to do all the cases. They can be paid on a per diem basis if necessary. This approach works especially well with spine surgeons who may use the ASC only three days a month. Pay their hospital-based staff to work in the ASC on a per-diem basis.
Learn more about Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners.
Read more insight from the leadership of Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners:
- 10 Steps to Take to Add Spine to an Existing Orthopedic Surgery Center
- 3 Big Opportunities for ASC Growth Now
- 6 Points on the Future of ASCs With Jay Rom of Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners