Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

What's the Harm? - December 2015 - 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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surgery center?" Identifying which cases present ideal opportunities comes down to throughput. Procedures that don't take long and that can be turned over quickly make for an efficient, service-oriented schedule. That's not to say that patients are just products on an assembly line. They like speedy surgeries and discharges as much as physicians do. So choose for patient convenience and experience as well. Keep in mind, though, that you're bringing the procedures on board as a new revenue stream, so it's important to assess the costs in light of their reimbursement rates (see "Can We Profit From Outpatient Spine?" on page 69). Just as you don't want to see physicians waiting to start their cases, you don't want case costs to swamp your profits before a procedure even begins. Pain management procedures are a great place to start. Spinal injec- tions and pain stimulator placements — for both trial and permanent implants — are relatively simple operations and can build a base for your service line. These cases are patient-satisfiers, not to mention lucrative business. Minimally invasive spine surgery is the next step up, and includes kyphoplasty, microdiscectomy and laminotomy, which are easily per- formed in outpatient settings and which pay pretty well. Anterior cervi- cal discectomy and fusion also fall into this category, as do transforami- nal and posterior lumbar interbody fusions. For the lumbar fusions, however, your center must prepare for the possibility of overnight stays. While some patients may be safely discharged, others may require extended recoveries due to pain or airway issues. So you'll need a plan, which first means consulting your state regulations on whether 23-hour stays are allowable where you are. 1 2 5 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T

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