While the pandemic has led to a nursing shortage, it also reminded people of the importance of ambulatory surgery centers.

In August, Catherine Kane, clinical specialist at Pall Corporation, spoke to TASCS members about the dangers of surgical smoke in the operating room and how to deal with this hazard in surgery centers.

“Each year, an estimated 500,000 workers, including surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and surgical technologists, are exposed to laser or electrosurgical smoke,” Kane said, citing OSHA.

International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW) reminds us that while our industry was turned upside down and continues to be challenged by COVID-19, basic practices to prevent procedure- and surgical site-related infections remain critical to protecting patients and maintaining the reputation of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) as providers of safe, high-quality care.

Consider using this year's IIPW as an opportunity to put infection prevention and infection control in the spotlight in your ASC. Encourage staff members to take this week to further step up their infection prevention and control efforts and then hold themselves accountable to the highest level of performance in these areas going forward. Let's review some of the key facets of a successful ASC infection prevention and control program.

Last month, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society hosted its annual conference in Fort Worth. For (10) years, TASCS has hosted this conference to educate and build connections within the healthcare community. This year, the conference faced a new challenge, with COVID and its variants, but the society made sure to provide masks, temperature-testing and other safety measures — including sponsor DisinfectWell’s disinfecting system — to create a comfortable environment for the 145 guests.

How important is an ASC administrator? For many surgery centers, they essentially fill the role of CEO. And depending upon the ASC, they could be the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company.

That's why it is imperative that the selection of an administrator is a decision that a center's management should not take lightly. The right administrator can help an ASC maximize its potential, delivering great care and outcomes for patients and a strong return on investment for owners. The wrong administrator can cause an ASC to struggle or even fail.

On August 19, three Modernizing Medicine associates spoke to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members about implicit bias in the healthcare system and how healthcare providers can work to narrow these inequities.

Julie Servoss, senior medical director of gastroenterology, Tacoma Perry, a medical consultant, and Michael Rivers, director of ophthalmology, began the conversation by contextualizing health inequities in the United States. Servoss talked about several areas of noticeable discrimination, including infant mortality rate and age-adjusted mortality rate. 

On July 22, Maryalice StClair, the chief commercial officer with Halosil International, spoke to TASCS members about eliminating pathogens in healthcare facilities. During her presentation, she explained the importance of having a simple and affordable solution at ambulatory surgery centers.

Halosil International was established in 2008, with a line of products that help decrease healthcare-associated infections. The company prides itself on having superior disinfection solutions that achieve a 6-log kill, meaning they are extremely effective at killing pathogens and reducing the risk of spread — even more so than competing technology, such as UV lights or electrostatic sprayers.

ImageFIRST Provides The Healthcare Industry With Laundering (& So Much More) 

Ambulatory surgery centers have been around since 1970, and National ASC Month is celebrated each year in August. During this time, facilities can boost awareness and help inform more people about the benefits of ASCs.

Robert Marinich is the head of sales at HST Pathways and has been working there for almost 10 years. During this time, he has fallen in love with the job and feels blessed to wake up every day, getting to help the healthcare industry with efficiency, cost-savings and so much more. “We care less about the politics and more about the client,” Marinich said. “And this client-first mentality is key to success.”

HST Pathways offers technological solutions and innovations for ambulatory surgery centers through several programs: case coordination, practice management and electronic health records. These programs work in tandem to create the ultimate experience for patient caregivers, and these three services bundled together computerize every step of the process to make for a more efficient facility that allows caregivers to spend more time with the patients and less time charting.

Facing a pandemic over this past year has been a whirlwind for the healthcare industry. Throughout all the problems that arose, though, people began to step up and go above and beyond in their healthcare roles. The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society sent out a survey to find out who members believe are emerging leaders in the surgery center community … caregivers and administrators alike, who truly stepped up and shined in their roles.

Three administrators stood out to the TASCS members as emerging leaders in the world of ambulatory care.

On June 24, Laura Schneider, the senior clinical director at AMSURG, explained some key issues and tips for running drills in ambulatory surgery centers. With over 40 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Schneider has dealt with most situations for which these drills are built to help staff be ready.

One of the biggest differences between hospitals and surgery centers is the amount of resources they have, so when ASCs are preparing for potential emergencies, it’s important that they allocate their resources and staff effectively. “There’s not always extra people around, so you’ve got to use your resources wisely,” Schneider said. “You want to make sure you’re prepared.”

After over a year of virtual meetings during the pandemic, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society got back to in-person events on June 23. The event, held at Austin Eastciders, was the first stop on TASCS’s Member Networking Texas Tour, which safely helps the healthcare community network.

In attendance was Woody Moore, the founder of this organization, who said he was proud of TASCS executive director Krista DuRapau’s hard work towards keeping the society relevant during the pandemic. “Many advocacy organizations have not survived so (DuRapau’s) work and that of (TASCS’s) board going forward is immensely important,” Moore said. “Now in its 50th year, the ASC sector is once again in an aggressive growth phase with a number of models in play.”
 

On June 10, Bob Marinich, head of sales for HST Pathways, talked to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members about implementing electronic health records successfully in their surgery centers.

In the past, EHRs received a bad name because they were slow and hard to use, Marinich said. They were designed by programmers rather than the people who would be using them. Today, though, EHRs are significantly better, due to technological advancements and an increasing understanding of healthcare needs. Still, less than 10% of ASCs are utilizing EHRs. This is in part due to their poor history but also because these programs are not subsidized and have no CMS guidelines.  

It is the 25th anniversary of National Safety Month. Since 1996, the National Safety Council has brought awareness to safety issues and encouraged everyone to help others stay safe, whether it be at the workplace or anywhere else.

This year holds special value to the safety of the nation, because our country only recently started to recover from a pandemic that devastated all aspects of our lives and flipped the medical industry on its head, as everyone struggled to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. Centers were shut down, people were overworked, and supplies were constantly in shortage.

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.