Ambulatory surgery centers are urged to focus on standardization and reducing risks, in order to help increase the level of high-quality, cost-effective care.

The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies over 2,200 healthcare organizations, has been around for 70 years. For the past 47 years, though, it has specifically been serving ambulatory surgery centers. Recently, Valerie Henry, the commission’s business development manager of ambulatory care services, spoke with TASCS members on the “commitment to meeting certain performance standards.”

Texas Health and Human Services explains how to meet the requirements of SB 809, so ASCs can properly report on emergency health funds procured during the pandemic.

During the 87th Texas legislative session, Senate Bill 809 passed, which requires several healthcare institutions to report emergency funds for COVID-19, as well as how much has been spent related to the public health emergency. Texas Health and Human Services’ senior financial analyst for hospital finance, Tori Ponson, and the organization’s senior financial analyst for acute care, Mohib Nawab, went over this new bill and its requirements with TASCS members.

Missy Danforth of The Leapfrog Group explains the importance of quality measurement in ASCs.

In 2019, The Leapfrog Group launched an ambulatory surgery center survey, as well as a new section to its hospital survey over outpatient procedures. Missy Danforth, vice president of healthcare ratings, stressed the importance of using these quality measurement surveys. “We want to trigger giant leaps forward in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare, specifically by using transparency to support informed decision making and value-based purchasing,” she said.

SCA offers a holistic approach to support physicians, patients and teammates.

Senior Division VP of Operations Trenton Mattison talks about AMSURG’s community-driven platform and new services the company is providing to the healthcare industry.

Cosentus associates talk about financial and technological changes that will begin in the new calendar year and how they will affect 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.

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.

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.”
 

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

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

Membership Monday: Digestive Health Center of Allen

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.

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.

Pain Specialists of America appoints chief medical officer

Austin, Texas-based Pain Specialists of America named Pankaj Mehta, MD, as its chief medical officer, according to a Feb. 2 news release.

Dr. Mehta is a board-certified anesthesiologist who gained national recognition for his contributions to interventional pain medicine, the release said. He is a leader in pain management with a focus on spine pain, headaches, spinal stenosis, abdominal and pelvic pain. He trained at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, both in Boston, before completing a fellowship at Cleveland Clinic.