Surgical Notes Celebrates National ASC Month
More than 5,000 ambulatory surgery centers provide high-quality, cost-effective care
Surgical Notes wishes all ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) a wonderful National ASC Month. Throughout August, ASCs will be hosting events that will help inform policy makers and the general public about the benefits surgery centers provide and grow awareness of the industry.
As a nationwide provider of revenue cycle services and solutions for ASCs and surgical hospitals, Surgical Notes has the good fortune of working with surgery centers across the country that are making a difference in their communities and the lives of their patients. Here are a few noteworthy facts and statistics about ASCs:
- The first freestanding ambulatory surgery facility opened in 1970. That means ASCs have been performing outpatient surgery for nearly 50 years.1
- There were more than 5,600 Medicare-certified ASCs as of 2017.2
- These ASCs perform millions of surgeries annually. Medicare has approved ASCs to perform more than 3,500 types of procedures.1
- A study showed that ASCs saved the Medicare program and its beneficiaries $7.5 billion over a four-year period, with the potential to save the Medicare program and its beneficiaries tens of billions of dollars more over the following decade.3
- ASCs perform procedures from a wide range of specialties, including gastroenterology, ophthalmology, pain management, orthopedics, and dermatology.
- Common surgical services provided in ASCs include cataract surgery, colonoscopy, and spinal injection. Surgery centers are also safely performing more complex procedures, such as lumbar discectomy, total joint replacement, and pacemaker placement.
"On behalf of Surgical Notes, we want to thank our ASC clients and all surgery centers for the tremendous work they do in delivering exceptional, high-quality, low-cost surgical care," said Randy Bishop, president and chief operating officer for Surgical Notes. "For more than 20 years, we have had the privilege to support surgery centers and the ASC industry. This National ASC Month, we hope even more of the public learns about the significant role surgery centers play in helping improve patient health, well-being, and quality of life."
References:
1. www.ascassociation.org/advancingsurgicalcare/asc/historyofascs
2. http://medpac.gov/docs/default-source/reports/mar19_medpac_ch5_sec.pdf
