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Asking a patient to remove a treasured wedding ring or body jewelry that defines their persona is not easy. However, with the increased focus on patient safety and the risks for injury posed by jewelry, as well as the increase in the popularity of piercings and body jewelry, many outpatient program managers are looking at ways to improve their policies to address all situations.
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A focus on the outpatient surgery building, quality improvement, and an emphasis on credentialing processes were priorities for surveyors from the Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Health Care who visited two ambulatory surgery centers this year.
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Question: We looked at the new rates for surgery center reimbursement and were delighted to see the increase in our procedure reimbursement. Is it safe to open the champagne?
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Consumers now have on-line access to information on facility costs and Medicare payments for 61 procedures performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).
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The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have launched a national education campaign designed to reduce medication errors.
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Peer review is a key component of any credentialing and privileging process but it does require some effort if the outpatient surgery program is office-based, admit experts interviewed by SDS Accreditation Update.
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In a first step toward a new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) payment system, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule that would pay ASCs 62% of the hospital outpatient department (HOPD) rate, beginning Jan. 1, 2008, with a two-year transition period.
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In a proposed regulation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is adding 14 procedures to the approved list for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in 2007 (see list) and plans to expand the list further in 2008.
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Under a proposed regulation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would require hospital outpatient department (HOPD) payment rate updates to be tied to inpatient quality measures provided by the hospital, beginning in 2007. Under the proposal, hospitals that don't submit the required quality data would see their HOPD rate updates reduced 2 percentage points.
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A July report from the American Hospital Association (AHA) regarding the shift of care to nonhospital settings1 brought strong reaction from FASA, which said the association is playing "the blame game."
