Special coding considerations apply
BY CRISTINA BENTIN | MAY 2017
With prescription opioid addiction surpassing epidemic proportions, any effective non-opioid pain management tool that might prevent further opioid misuse is certainly one to be embraced. According to a 2017 study by the National Safety Council, in the US, the odds of death by an opioid overdose (1:96) is more likely than death by a motor vehicle accident (1:103).
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Learn how to implement the revised reporting requirements
BY GINA THRONEBERRY | JUNE-JULY 2018
In 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule to improve the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses through the electronic collection of establishment-specific injury and illness data. After receiving comments on the proposal, OSHA issued the final rule that became effective January 1, 2017 (Occupational Safety and Health Administration 29 CFR Part 1904).
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July to December 2018
BY ALEX TAIRA | APRIL 2019
Since ASCA’s last update in July 2018, health care organizations across the country posted 163 breaches of protected health information (PHI) affecting 500 or more individuals.
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Save time, improve efficiency and gain patient satisfaction
BY WILL CAMPBELL | JUNE-JULY 2019
ASCs spend a lot of money on the materials needed to build a paper chart. Centers shell out roughly $7 per chart, and that doesn’t include the time and labor office staff invest in assembling, retrieving, taking apart and reassembling them. A typical ASC spends five minutes building a patient chart, which translates into an entire business day per month for every 100 cases.
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Risks that are uninsurable or prohibitively expensive to insure might call for alternative risk transfer
BY BENJAMIN S. TERNER | SEPTEMBER 2016
In an ever-changing world, it is no secret that risks associated with ASCs also are evolving. Trends in medical risk transfer, however, are generally not related to ordinary risks but rather nontraditional—low frequency/high severity—risks. If these risks occur, they have the ability to bring a practice to a screeching halt. Examples of such risks include: loss or suspension of professional license, legislative and regulatory changes, cyber risk (breach of customer data and detrimental code) and related Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) violations.
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Congress passes site-neutral payment legislation
BY KRISTIN MURPHY | JUNE-JULY 2016
On November 2, 2015, congressional leaders and the Obama administration announced a bipartisan budget agreement that would fund the federal government for two years, raise the nation’s debt ceiling and stave off Medicare premium increases for beneficiaries. The final legislation, called the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, responded to a number approaching fiscal deadlines and leadership changes in the House that could have impacted the ability to strike such a deal.
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New systems benefit patients and staff
BY RICHARD W. SCHULE | JUNE-JULY 2019
Joseph Juran, a leading expert in the quality industry and author of Juran’s Quality Handbook—The Complete Guide to Performance Excellence, defines “quality management” as all activities of the overall management function that determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities and implement them by such means as quality planning, quality control and quality improvement within the quality system.
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Try these low-cost strategies to stay ahead of the game
BY TOM HUI | JUNE-JULY 2019
ASC owners and administrators sometimes hesitate to fund the expensive technologies they assume are required to improve cybersecurity at their center. In reality, some of the most effective preventive cybersecurity measures an ASC can put in place also are affordable. By addressing the “low-hanging fruit” of cybersecurity risk, ASCs can reduce vulnerability without breaking the bank.
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Your employees are the most important tool to success
BY JHO OUTLAW | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017
We all know every penny counts, but the rapidly changing rules surrounding ASC reimbursement can make revenue cycle management difficult. We can be ready for whatever changes come our way if we have the right tools, anticipate and adapt. When we think “tools,” we generally think software, hardware and medical equipment, but the most important tool for an ASC’s success is something else that is sometimes forgotten. More on that later. Below are a few tips to manage your revenue cycle successfully.
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What these rules could mean for ASCs
BY ALEX TAIRA | JUNE-JULY 2019
On February 11, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) concurrently released two long-awaited federal regulations addressing health information technology (HIT). The two rules seek to ease the flow of healthcare information, both from provider to patient as well as between providers, and add to a continually expanding regulatory framework governing electronic health information (EHI).
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Help your member of Congress understand your ASC’s contributions to your community
BY MEAGH GRAHAM | JUNE-JULY 2019
ASCs provide high-quality, economically priced care, yet many policymakers don’t know about the countless benefits that ASCs provide to their patients and the community. Hosting a tour of your center for a policymaker gives you the unique opportunity to show them firsthand the benefits your ASC provides.
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