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In this first part of a two-part series on outsourcing your coding, billing, and collections, we discuss how to determine whether to outsource. In next months issue, we provide billing benchmarks and tips on how to get paid by insurance companies.
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The nursing shortage continues there was an RN vacancy rate of 8.4% at hospitals in 2003 and theres no relief in sight. Thus, managers are getting creative in their hiring, and theyre finding that emergency department (ED) nurses have skills that adapt well to outpatient surgery performed in hospitals and freestanding centers.
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Managers report patient safety goals are the primary focus of surveyors this year, says Lorri G. Smith, RN, BSN, director of clinical services accreditation specialist for AmSurg, a Nashville-based national company that manages or owns more than 120 single-specialty surgery centers.
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Patti Moore, RN, director of River View Surgery Center in Lancaster, OH, perused with interest the January 2004 newsletter produced by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which included a description of tracer methodology. Ten days later, her surgery center became the nations first freestanding ambulatory surgery center to undergo an unannounced survey conducted to test the unannounced process and the tracer methodology.
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This column addresses specific questions related to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) implementation. How should you handle discarded computers?
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The American Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists have developed a joint statement regarding propofol administration that says when propofol is used for sedation/anesthesia, it should be administered only by persons who are trained in the administration of general anesthesia and who are not simultaneously involved in surgical or diagnostic procedures.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a memo directing Medicare certification surveyors to confirm that ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are not performing non-ASC list procedures on Medicare beneficiaries, but we think CMS is totally incorrect, says Kathy Bryant, executive vice president of the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA) in Alexandria, VA. Bryant updated ASCs on Medicare issues at the recent annual FASA meeting.
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The Quincy, MA-based National Fire Protection Association has approved a tentative interim amendment to the 2000 and 2003 Life Safety Code to allow health care facilities to install alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers in corridors and other public areas.
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In this first part of a two-part series on cost savings in ambulatory surgery, we discuss how to save money in administrative support, benefits, salaries, and services. In next months issue, well discuss telecommunications and occupancy costs
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Same-day surgery managers were apprehensive about periodic performance reviews (PPRs) by the Joint Commission. However, the response has been so positive to the self-evaluation required at the midpoint of an accreditation cycle that the Joint Commission will make the PPR an annual requirement beginning in 2006.
