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Deadweight. Deadwood. Nonproductive. None of these adjectives are very flattering, and surgery center managers avoid using these terms to describe members of their medical staff; however, the reality for physician-owned surgery centers is that none can afford to have surgeons on staff who dont bring cases to the center.
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Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, ambulatory surgery center (ASC) payments that are higher than hospital outpatient department (HOPD) payments for the same procedures will be reduced to the hospital rate, based on the budget reconciliation bill awaiting final Congressional approval at press time.
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In an article highlighting risks of several surgical procedures, Consumer Reports discussed the risks of angioplasty, including death in 2% to 6% of patients, and it questioned the long-term safety of drug-coated stents.
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Michael O. Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has announced that HHS will propose including all outpatient surgical procedures on the list of approved procedures for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), except for those that department officials think would pose a significant safety risk in a center and those that would require an overnight stay.
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Surgeons may be the investing partners in your surgery center, but in many cases, it may be office staff who determine at which facility a procedure is scheduled. If you notice that a surgeons utilization of your center is dropping, consider education for office staff to address the downturn, says Michael Sawyer, administrator of Santa Barbara (CA) Surgery Center.
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In this months issue, I address some of your most pressing questions, including whether to replace a retiring nurse manager, motivation of long-time staff, use of a urology table for other procedures, whether to have separate staff and physician lounges, use of cell phones, and the most profitable specialty.
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Good communications with family members on the day of surgery is essential for reduction of anxiety in the waiting room, say experts interviewed by Same-Day Surgery. Some facilities are using technology to keep family members updated on the progress of their loved one.
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Warning: Consumer Reports is telling your patients that they may not need surgery. The popular magazine recently posted an article that says there are 12 procedures that may be overperformed, and it goes as far as referring to bloodletting and lobotomy as examples of popular procedures that later proved ineffective or dangerous.
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"The best offense is a good defense" is often said by athletic coaches, but the same concept applies to recruitment and retention of employees. While many managers look carefully at how their outpatient surgery programs recruit new employees, it is just as important to look carefully at what you are doing to retain the good employees you have now, say experts interviewed by Same-Day Surgery.
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It could happen anywhere. After three days of torrential rains in Atlanta, Mary Jo finally was able to drop off her car at the car wash. As she walked into the office of the car wash, a woman was opening her briefcase and pulling out a recent copy of Same-Day Surgery.
