Marvella Thomas, senior consultant in Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) clinical operations at Cardinal Health, did a Q&A with Becker’s ASC to discusses driving ASC growth while supporting patients and clinicians.
Increased volume presents surgery centers with significant growth opportunities along with change management and operational challenges.
Higher inventory levels for supplies are needed to support the increase in activity. Facilities not only need more of their current supplies, but they also need procedure and physician specific supplies for new surgeons and new procedures. Storage and space are almost always issues in most ASCs. However, other areas may be overlooked with the increase in patient volume.
Thomas shared, “We often forget to assess the impact the volume increase has on your sterile processing team. The increased volume will increase the need for instrumentation. It’s important to make sure you have the equipment and resources to process and sterilize the trays needed for the daily schedule. There is additional stress and activity placed on the business office. They have new physicians to credential. New insurance companies to work with, and an increased workload from the higher volume.”
For more tips on ASC optimization, read the full Q&A on our Supply Chain Center.