The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society has a new board member: Jeff Blankinship!

Bartt Warner, director of compensation arrangements at VMG Health, and Dylan Alexander, manager for business valuation and transaction advisory at VMG Health, presented information to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members on May 27 about fair market value in the surgical center industry, as well as an Office of Inspector General opinion that speaks directly to ASC investment concerns.

VMG Health is a company that specializes in healthcare valuation, strategy and compliance. The company provides fair market value on all assets of the medical field, from equipment to physician salaries, and has developed experts to look at each component of the industry to satisfy customers’ total needs. It also helps with tailoring a compliance program specific to your organization that will ensure compliance with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as other governmental regulations.

The History & The Future Of Ambulatory Surgery Centers

According to Texas Health & Human Services, there are 560 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) — medical facilities specialized in elective, same-day and outpatient surgical procedures — in Texas. 

On May 13, Dr. David Shapiro, an officer for the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), spoke to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members about the survey process and steps ASCs can take in preparation for their surveys.

When it comes to AAAHC’s approach, Shapiro explained the surveyors work to be consultants with facility staff and collaborate with them to ensure they become accredited and are able to keep that status. “A lot of our standards are very open-ended,” he said. “We ask you to define things.” For example, pediatrics could mean something different for every center, and some centers might not even have pediatric departments, so it’s up to the facility to define what they have and what the cut-offs are for their departments.

In April, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission answered some questions from the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society about survey updates, rule changes and other helpful resources for ASCs.

As it pertains to surveys, HHSC is not authorized to do any virtual surveys at this time, and in-person visits are expected to meet the established expectations for infection control. All visits for surveys are addressed on a case-by-case basis. When it comes to the top survey citation since COVID, the staff expressed that surveyors have a special focus on infection control practices throughout all CMS-certified providers.

April 26 to April 30, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society hosted Infection Control Week. This virtual conference brought together industry experts, discussing the initiatives, expectations and future of infection prevention in ambulatory surgery centers.

On Monday, Lisa McKown, the manager of research and development for Beyond Clean, spoke about public health initiatives to reduce healthcare-associated infections and offered helpful ways the community can get involved to prevent HAIs.

STERIS Associates Discuss Outsourcing Sterilization Process to Prevent Infection
By Tara Phipps

On Thursday, April 22, two STERIS associates discussed offsite reprocessing centers and issues ambulatory surgery centers face with vendor trays at the bi-weekly Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society town hall event.

Last week, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) held its bi-annual Capitol Day virtually. The event was a success that included meetings with a focus group of ambulatory surgery center (ASC) members and various legislative offices, including a welcome kick-off from Senator Dawn Buckingham, MD herself. 

3 Ways Outsourcing the Sterile Processing Department Will Keep Your Total Joints Program Ahead of ASC Trends

At one time it might have been surprising to find out that an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) functioned without an in-house Sterile Processing Department (SPD). Today, it's common to see centers survive and even thrive without them.

This World Health Day, What Are You Doing To Build A Fairer, Healthier World?
By TASCS Board Member James McClung, Chief Development Officer of Reliant Medical Services

On March 4, Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members attended a virtual town hall, in order to learn best practices on proper incident reporting to Texas Health and Human Services.  

Laura Schneider  RN, Sr. Director of Clinical Services for Amsurg, began by reviewing the requirements of ASC Incident Reporting:

5 Tips For Patient Safety Awareness Week 

Patient Safety Awareness Week encourages people to learn more about healthcare safety, and this year, it takes place March 14–20, 2021. This topic can include the reporting, prevention and reduction of issues that harm patients and others in medical settings.

ASC Accreditation During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society provides members with information and education through bi-weekly virtual town halls. On February 11, members learned what to expect in regards to surveys for accreditation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Capitol Day has been postponed to allow centers to recover from the impacts of the Winter Storm Uri. Because each center has been impacted in some way, we appreciate your input on when a new advocacy day would be convenient for your participation.

TAKE THE SURVEY

NEW DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

 We apologize for any inconvenience but we are rescheduling next week's event due to the inclement weather and power shortages that our ASCs have experienced this week.

A future date is TBD and will be announced when available. 

In order to provide members with information and education, even in the midst of a pandemic, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) has been holding virtual town halls. The latest one took place on Jan. 28 and was about controlled medication logs in ambulatory surgery centers.

It was a focused, brief, yet very informative symposium from two of Texas’ top experts on the topic, Diane Buffington of Surgical Care Affiliates and Chris Dembny of Dembny Pharmacy Consultants LLC.

SUMMARY: The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is amending its regulations to implement a new single-sheet format for DEA Form 222, used by DEA registrants to order schedules I and II controlled substances. The rule provides for a two-year transition period, during which the existing triplicate version of the forms may continue to be used. The rule also includes a number of minor procedural changes.

https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/rules/2019/fr0930.htm