on the net
This site offers excellent information on operating an ASC

When Ophthalmology Management recently ran a year-long series detailing how a practice planned, certified, constructed and began operating its own ambulatory surgery center (ASC), the two authors received more than 200 e-mail inquiries from interested ophthalmologists. Clearly, ophthalmologists want to know more about ASCs and the issues that have the potential to affect the viability and profitability of these centers.

Fortunately, the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (AAASC) has an excellent Web site -- www.AAASC.org -- that offers clear and current information on key issues surrounding ASC operation.

The AAASC is a physician-led advocacy group that focuses on four major ASC-related issues:

• maintaining and improving the quality of care
• cost-effective ASC operation
• upholding reimbursement at a reasonable level
• helping shape the state and national regulatory and legal environment in which ASCs operate.

The AAASC.org Web site has several outstanding features that practices which now operate -- or are interested in operating -- an ASC will find helpful. The site offers well-researched articles on many aspects of ASC operation. It also provides valuable links to other Internet sites that contain specific information on ASC-related areas, such as state regulations, human resources management, risk management and OSHA guidelines.

The "Advocacy" section of the site is particularly important today because the formula for calculating reimbursement for all ASC procedures is now under review by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), and any changes adopted in the near future will impact the profitability of ASCs.

For information regarding ASCs, AAASC membership, and the issues surrounding surgery centers, AAASC.org should be your first stop on the Web.

Visit: www.AAASC.org

If you've discovered a Web site or service that's been useful to you in practice or at home, we'd like to know about it. E-mail Jerry Helzner at helznergi@boucher1.com  or call him at (215) 643-8013.