Membership Monday: Digestive Health Center of Allen

 

Membership Monday: Digestive Health Center of Allen

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Incident Reporting: Best Practices For ASCs

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:

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5 Tips For Patient Safety Awareness Week

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.

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ASC Accreditation During The COVID-19 Pandemic

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.

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MUST READ information if your center experienced losses in the Winter Storm

If your center sustained damage, follow these guidelines from Texas Health and Human Services Commission:
Submit the temporary closure information on facility letterhead to [email protected]. Please include the facility name, facility ASC license number and the closure details. Once the facility is operational, resubmit the same information.
New Federal Disaster Loan Available For Texas Businesses Via U.S. Small Business Administration: https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ela/s/
Office of the Governor Greg Abbott Texas Division of Emergency Management
Launch Call Center To Assist With Texas Individual Assistance Reporting Tool: Link here

Legislative Recap WE 2/25/21

 

 

The chaos caused by Texas’ winter storm didn’t die down this week so much as it shifted its focus and expanded its reach. Legislative activity resumed and intensified in the midst of the ongoing fallout of Texas’ winter storm, and committees of both the House and Senate held marathon meetings to determine root causes and assign accountability for the crisis. Legislators pressed for answers regarding what went wrong and who was at fault, but largely confronted the reality of systemwide failures and more than enough blame to go around. Testimony was lengthy and exhaustive, but did reveal common themes for the failures from which the state is trying to recover:

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TOWN HALL THIS THURSDAY! Suggestions to Completing the ASC Facility Incident Report

Join us this Thursday for our next topic in our Town Hall series
Suggestions to Completing the ASC Facility Incident Report 

POSTPONED- Capitol Day

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

Legislative Recap WE 2/20/21

Gavel to Gavel

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POSTPONED-Infection Control Week!

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. 

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Legislative Recap WE 2/12/21

 

 

 

 

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Controlled Medication Logs in Ambulatory Surgery Centers

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.

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Legislative Recap WE 2/5/21

 

 

 
 

 

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Welcome Dr. Mehta to PSA ASC

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.

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Laredo Digestive Health Center Receives APEX Quality Award

5 Physicians Endoscopy Partner Centers Receive APEX Quality Award

 

JAMISON, Pa.Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Five Physicians Endoscopy partner ambulatory surgery centers have received the 2020 National APEX Quality Award. The Endoscopy Center of Niagara, Laredo Digestive Health Center, Long Island Center for Digestive Health, PGC Center for Excellence, and South Broward Endoscopy Center were recognized as the highest performing healthcare facilities within their healthcare peer grouping. Awarded annually by SPH Analytics, recipients of the APEX Quality Award are determined solely by patient satisfaction measures. APEX, traditionally meaning highest point, is defined by SPH Analytics as "Attributes for Patient Excellence".

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Smith+Nephew, Hall of Fame Health to partner on former NFL players’ wellness

Smith+Nephew, Hall of Fame Health to partner on former NFL players’ wellness

American football sports medicine orthopedics Smith+Nephew

[Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash]

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Legislative Recap WE 1/29/21

Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that he will give the 2021 “State of the State” address on Monday, February 1, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. CT. This address will include an update on Texas’ response to COVID-19, commendations of exceptional Texans, and the Governor’s priorities for the 87th Legislature—setting up the possibility of a handful of emergency items for  the Legislature to consider immediately.
 
Senate Redistricting Committee hearings got underway this week, facing all the same challenges as the rest of the legislative process. Usually conducted during the interim and all throughout the state, these meetings will be held in Austin and the witnesses will testify via two-way videoconferencing. While Committee members were already flying blind without 2020 census data, this week delivered a further blow to their efforts when the U.S. Census Bureau announced that updated population estimates will likely not be available until the end of July. Though hardly a surprise, this does almost guarantee that the Legislature will have to reconvene for a special session.
 
House Speaker Dade Phelan indicated that we can look for House Committee Assignments next week, meaning that legislative deliberations over the House and Senate base budget bills can begin in earnest. It is expected that we will see Appropriations Committee meetings align with those of the Senate Finance Committee, which is scheduled to have its first hearing February 8th.
 
Also in the House, the five-man special election for House District 68 yielded a runoff between Republicans Craig Carter (18.07%) and David Spiller (43.88%). A date for the run-off has not yet been set. HD68 was formerly held by now-Sen. Drew Springer.
 
Over the weekend the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) announced that the state would receive 332,750 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the seventh week of vaccine distribution. Those doses were shipped to 212 providers across the state, including 82 large hub providers. The state is ordering 216,350 second doses for individuals that received their first dose a few weeks ago.
Texas Headlines
After 32 years at the agency, Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director James Bass set to retire in May
 

Governor Abbott Executive Order Relating to protection of Texas's energy industry from federal overreach.
 

With a stalled court system, some Texas jails are dangerously overcrowded in the pandemic

 
Texas surpasses 2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases
 

Without census numbers, Texas Senate digs into redistricting with a look at West Texas
 

Census delays will force Texas lawmakers into a special session to redraw political maps
 

Texas rolls out mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics, starting in rural counties
 

Point of Order: Funding Texas schools during a pandemic
 

Food banks urge lawmakers to stop funding cuts to program assisting hungry Texans
 

TribCast: How Joe Biden's immigration orders are playing out in Texas
 

Gov. Greg Abbott pushes Legislature to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits
Countdown to Sine Die
motionmailapp.com
 
 
 
What to Expect Next Week
View this document for scheduled legislative meetings. 
Priority Bill Tracking Report
Please click HERE to review bills tracked through January 29, 2021.
Relevant State & Federal COVID-19 Updates from the Week
Please click HERE to read the COVID-19 Updates from the week. 
 

DEA Compliance Update

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

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Poll of the Week- Dispensing Machine

We have our poll of the week up to see how many centers are currently utilizing an automated dispensing machine. Please take a second to answer this one question anonymous poll:

Take the poll

If you have any questions or want to share comments or experiences with the automated dispensing machines, please share here with the community.

Membership Monday

Kim Russell is the chief executive officer of Westlake Hills Surgery Center. She is also an athlete, a four-times world champion gold medalist in racquetball, an animal rescuer, a mother of two girls and a leader in the industry. 

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