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Say Yes to Total Hips - March 2014 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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Dan O'Connor EDITOR'S PAGE 1 0 O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Unholy Alliance The industry suffers every time an ASC is converted to an HOPD. L ast month in Springfield, Ill., ophthalmologist Sandra Yeh, MD, did what a growing number of ASC physician-owners are doing these days: She sold out to the local hospital. Boy, did she. Dr. Yeh sold Prairie Surgery Center to St. John's Hospital for a cool $8.5 million. Dr. Yeh paid $3 million to build and equip the center 3 years ago. Not only did she flip her ASC for nearly 3 times what she paid for it, but she'll continue cashing the hospital's checks. St. John's will lease from Dr. Yeh the building in which the surgery center operates. The hospital will hire 19 of Dr. Yeh's employees who staff the surgery center and offer them signing bonuses of $500 to $2,500. Best of all, Dr. Yeh will continue doing surgery and running the facility under a management contract with St. John's. She's not boast- ing when she tells you that she can do 20 8-minute cataract cases by noon. "I do great surgery, have happy patients and make a profit," she says. "There's nothing wrong with that." St. John's made Dr. Yeh, 51, an offer she couldn't refuse. The burden of running an ASC was getting to her: the growing disparity in Medicare's payment rates, slow-paying payors, increasing reporting requirements, EMRs, ICD-10. "ASCs are paid 47% less than the hospital," she says. "You can't throw a thousand-pound weight on a horse and expect it to jump a wall." Plus, she knows St. John's. She worked for 20 happy years at the hos- pital. Three years ago, things changed. Cataract patients were forced to wait 11 weeks to get on the schedule. A disruptive renovation project. An interim CEO who wanted to phase out ophthalmology and all but showed Dr. Yeh the door. "When I left there, I knew they were making a mistake," she says. "You can't hide the exit of 1,200 cases." NEPTUNE ® 2 IS BACKed by science For your protection and peace of mind. Our SealShut TM Technology keeps the Neptune 2 constantly closed, protecting you from suctioned biohazardous fluids during cases, manifold change, docking and transport. It's just part of the science behind the safety, proof positive that our commitment to surgical safety has never been stronger. For more information, contact your Surgical sales representative or visit www.stryker.com/surgical. AORN Booth 4012, just inside the Hall F1 entrance › 2,900 hours of hands-on research › 1,000+ customer surveys › 325 healthcare practitioner consults 9100-002-440 Rev A OSE_1403_part1_Layout 1 3/5/14 11:28 AM Page 10

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