Four ASC leaders joined Becker’s to discuss what they would change about the industry.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Jeff Roberts. CEO of Telluride (Colo.) Regional Medical Center: Freestanding ASCs should be paid the same as hospital-based ASCs. They provide better care and outcomes and are more patient friendly so should not be penalized.
Mitch Lawson. CEO of Subflow (Nashville, Tenn.): Patients move from primary care to surgery to physical therapy, but the communication between providers is often fragmented. Creating a system that connects all parties and shares real-time data would improve coordination, reduce gaps in care and ultimately lead to better outcomes and increased profit margin.
Robert Lerma. Administrator of Upper Valley Dialysis Access Surgery Center (Mission, Texas): The one issue I have is parity for higher payment for identical procedures performed in the hospital versus the ASC. I have heard the arguments(s) that the hospital has to incur costs for the indigent. The ASC also provides for the indigent, however, without any reimbursement at the end of the Medicare cost year. The ASC also has to compete for salary and benefits for employees.
The ASC saves cost, also has a high-quality value for patient care and shorter turnaround times, yet the ASC lags behind in reimbursement as compared to the hospital.
Warrie Layon. CEO of Vault Healthcare Advisors (New York City): My top priority would be to change how complex payer contracting and reimbursement still are. ASCs and their teams provide amazing care, oftentimes more efficiently and affordably than hospitals. Unfortunately, the value provided isn’t always reflected in the contracts that are offered. If we could bring more clarity, fairness and consistency to the reimbursement process, especially with the commercial insurers, it would make a big difference in helping ASCs stay financially viable and expand access to affordable, high-quality surgical care for more patients.
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