State Representative Dustin Burrows, District 83, 
toured the Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center in Northwest Austin

    

 Attendees left to right – Steve Blom, CASC (Administrator), Robert Knox, RN (Clinical Director), Krista DuRapau (TASCS Executive Director) and Representative Dustin Burrows, District 83.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 State Representative Dustin Burrows, District 83, toured the Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center in Northwest Austin. Representative Burrows is a member of the House Agriculture & Livestock, Investments and Financial Services committees.

Burrows was in Austin meeting with stakeholders and asked to meet with the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) “I have constituents back home in Lubbock who own, work and have their procedures performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs)” Burrows said. He wanted to meet to learn more about the industry and the benefit ASCs provide to patients in Texas. 

“We discussed the high quality of care, the efficient operations, low infection rates and ability to save money for patients” said Steve Blom, CASC who is the administrator for the center. Representative Burrows had the opportunity to speak with several surgeons in the OR hallway in-between cases and get an appreciation as to why surgeons prefer an ASC to a Hospital. “Burrows was interested in the newer technology and advances in surgical procedures that allows ASC’s to perform total joint replacements” Blom stated.

Representative Burrows was able to have an in-depth conversation with Dr. J. Brannan Smoot, Board-Certified Orthopedic Surgeon about patients and surprise bills. “None of our patients are surprised with their bills after the procedure” stated Dr. Smoot. “These are elective procedures that are scheduled in advance, not an emergency, and our office communicates with the patient and their insurance carrier prior to the procedure and they know costs in advance and can make informed decisions”.

Clinical Director, Robert Knox, RN added that because of the advanced scheduling, their office can educate and counsel patients more about the procedure, expectations for recovery and help prepare them for a better experience.“It was amazing to have Representative Burrows reach out to us and take time to come tour the facility and see firsthand the benefits that ASCs provide to Texas patients. We hope that this year we can bring more legislators on tours and give everyone a more in depth look at what an ASC is and can do for patients” stated TASCS Executive Director Krista DuRapau.

 

Special Thanks to Texas Orthopedics for Hosting This Tour!

 
*Texas Orthopedics is currently in Phase 1 of expanding its 9,500 SF center with 3 ORs and 1 procedure room to add a new waiting room, pre-op and sterile processing area that should be completed by April 1, 2018.  Phase 2 of the expansion will add an additional 2 OR’s and will be ready in June 2018.*