Are ASC Sleepovers a Good Idea?
Surgery centers leap boldly into overnight recovery care.
T
he only thing prevent-
ing some ambulatory
surgery centers from
hosting more complex
cases that require an
overnight stay is not having
a place for patients to rest
their heads and recover for
a night or 2 after, say, joint replacement or spine surgery.
Not long ago, pain control was the hard limit on what patients can
migrate from hospitals to ASCs. Regional blocks, take-home pain
pumps and other pain management techniques broke that barrier.
Now, it's housing. As usual, surgery centers have bobbed and
weaved their way to a fix. Yes, what's stopping us, they said, from
attaching a "recovery" or "convalescent" center to our facilities where
patients can sleep over? ASC B&Bs!
As you'll see in "Overnight Stays for ASCs" on page 54, growing
numbers of patients are showing up for surgery with their tooth
brushes and a change of clothes. A handful of states have passed laws
that let patients recover in ASCs for 1, 2 or 3 overnights. Last year,
more than 400 patients stayed in the overnight recovery center at an
ortho and spine ASC in Pueblo, Colo.
The center was rarely reimbursed for the overnight care — and
when it was, it was at the Econo Lodge nightly rate. But that's not the
prize, not even close. It's the amazing boost in surgical volume that
overnight care can give to ASCs.
"If reimbursement for the procedure itself covers the ASC's expens-
es and those associated with the recovery center as well as a reason-
8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 8
Editor's Page
Dan O'Connor