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The 8-Step Software Evaluation Checklist
84 Plays21 days ago
Kevin Turner is the Sr. VP of IT & Analytics at HealthCrest Surgical Management. He has been in IT for over 30 years and has been through the software evaluation process countless times. Kevin shares with us his repeatable, proven, 8-step process that anyone can use to guide their software decisions. Whether you’re choosing your first system or replacing a legacy tool, this structured approach will help you navigate the process with confidence. With so many vendors and features to consider, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but this step-by-step process will keep you focused on what matters most and make sure all stakeholders are happy with the decision.
In our news recap, we’ll cover the DOJ’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force, Ascension’s acquisition of AMSURG, the biggest opportunity for growth in ASCs, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a nurse who uses her own personal tragedy to provide once-in-a-lifetime care.
Recommend 8-Step Process:
- Define Business Needs and Objectives
- Assemble a Cross-Functional Selection Team
- Gather Requirements and Prioritize Features
- Research the Market and Identify Potential Vendors
- Evaluate and Compare Options
- Assess Integration, Security, and Compliance
- Review Costs and Negotiate Contracts
- Pilot, Test, and Finalize the Decision
Resources Mentioned:
- ASC Stakeholders Voice Market-Competition Concerns, Ask DOJ Task Force to Cut Red Tape
- Ascension agrees to acquire Amsurg to expand ambulatory surgery reach
- The biggest opportunities for ASC growth
- From Paralyzed Patient to Spinal Cord Nurse: Rachel Stewart, BSN, RN, Turns Trauma into Triumph
Brought to you by HST Pathways.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Format
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to this week in surgery centers. If you're in the ASC industry, then you're in the right place. Every week we'll start the episode off by sharing an interesting conversation we had with our featured guests.
00:00:12
Speaker
And then we'll close the episode by recapping the latest news impacting surgery centers. We're excited to share with you what we have. So let's get started and see what the industry has been up to.
00:00:27
Speaker
hi everyone.
Guest Overview: Kevin Turner's Eight-Step Software Selection Process
00:00:28
Speaker
Here's what you can expect on today's episode. Kevin Turner is the Senior Vice President of it t and Analytics at HealthCrest Surgical Management. He has been in IT for over 30 years and has been through the software evaluation process countless times.
00:00:44
Speaker
Kevin shares with us his repeatable, proven eight-step process that anyone can use to guide their software decisions. So whether you're choosing your first system or replacing a legacy tool, this structured approach will help you navigate the process with confidence.
00:01:00
Speaker
With so many vendors and features to consider, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, but this step-by-step process will keep you focused on what matters most and make sure all stakeholders are happy with the decision.
00:01:12
Speaker
In our news
News Topics Preview
00:01:13
Speaker
recap, we'll cover the DOJ's Anti-Competitive Regulations Task Force, Ascension's acquisition of AMSURG, the biggest opportunity for growth in ASCs right now, and of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a nurse who uses her personal tragedy to provide once-in-a-lifetime care.
00:01:33
Speaker
I hope everyone enjoys the episode, and here's what's going on this week in Surgery Centers.
00:01:41
Speaker
Hi
Kevin Turner's IT Career Journey
00:01:42
Speaker
Kevin, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me on board. Before we get started, can you please share a little bit about yourself and about HealthCrest with our listeners?
00:01:54
Speaker
Sure. My name is Kevin Turner and I have been in IT for 30 years. all on the infrastructure side. So from help desk to engineering, to architecture, security, doing audits, all of those types of things. And the last 15 years has been pretty exclusively in the medical field.
00:02:14
Speaker
Our company is a medical management company, similar to other ones that you've heard. We have a couple dozen ASCs kind of spread throughout the United States. And that's what we do. We manage their IT, we manage their operations, all of those types of things.
Steps 1 & 2: Defining Needs and Team Assembly
00:02:29
Speaker
Thank you. And I'm very excited to have you on today to talk us through your eight step process to selecting new software. Obviously, hst is on the software side of the house. So we have worked to with thousands of ASCs as they go through this process.
00:02:44
Speaker
And a lot of times we're working with ASC leaders who may be going through it for the first time. So I think sharing a structured approach will be super valuable for them.
00:02:55
Speaker
So let's get right into it. What is step one of your eight step but process?
00:03:02
Speaker
Sure. It's not my eight step process. It's the eight step process. This is the standard process that's used to select any software. it doesn't have to be your EMR. doesn't have to be anything in particular. it could be what selecting, which word processor you want to use.
00:03:18
Speaker
It can be anything like that, but the process starts with defining business needs and objectives. So essentially, you're trying to identify what specific problems the software needs to solve, clarify what success looks like, both functionally and strategically, and you want to align the software goals with business priorities and long-term vision.
00:03:42
Speaker
Essentially, the idea is that you have a problem, whether it's a manual process or it's a compliance issue or whatever, and you need a piece of software that will solve that problem for you, the first thing you need to do is actually understand the scope of the problem that you're trying to solve.
00:04:03
Speaker
Got it. And really quick, who typically, so when we're selecting software, you obviously have the person leading the project, the person maybe spearheading, let's say, what is an EMR, the person who really wants it and has maybe done it previously, is are they the person usually defining those business needs? Are they bringing in a team with them?
00:04:25
Speaker
Essentially, that takes us to step two, which is assembling a cross-functional selection team. Perfect. And the idea behind it is that, yes, it generally speaking, It can be one person that identifies the issue saying, hey, we need to solve this particular problem.
00:04:41
Speaker
Oftentimes it's a group of people, you're selecting a new EMR software. Obviously, you've got different people from different groups that have different interests and what this is going to look like and how it's going to be done.
00:04:53
Speaker
So that assembling a cross-functional team, you want to bring people from IT, operations, finance, and end user groups. You want a really diverse team that covers the technical, operational, and the business needs in this process.
00:05:11
Speaker
You don't really want to leave anybody out. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a meeting and someone says, oh, hey, we bought this new piece of software you need to implement at your IT. t Okay, why weren't we involved in the software process?
00:05:24
Speaker
And then come to find out you need a half million dollars of hardware to run this software that no one thought of or included. So having the right people in the room when you're starting this project and being able to define what you're needing is probably one of the most important aspects of the entire process.
00:05:45
Speaker
Sure. And I would imagine that team would often go back to the step one, the business needs needs and objectives as you're going through this process to say, Hey, are we going off track or this is our Bible of what we're looking at?
00:05:59
Speaker
Yes. Generally speaking, this group is going to define the scope. The the problem is probably already been identified that you're trying to solve, but this group is going to define the scope of what you're actually going to do with the software.
00:06:14
Speaker
Perfect. Okay. So we've defined business needs and objectives. We have our team on board. What is step three?
Step 3: Gather and Prioritize Requirements
00:06:22
Speaker
So step three, i consider to be the most important step.
00:06:25
Speaker
This is gathering requirements and prioritizing features. This is often the process that gets dropped or not completed thoroughly. And thus you have these softwares that are implemented that don't do what the sales guy said it was going to do.
00:06:42
Speaker
doesn't actually fill your needs. You end up building more manual processes than you had before to use the product. So you need to develop a comprehensive list of required features, integration needs and performance expectations.
00:06:57
Speaker
So you're going to build a scorecard, so to speak, and you're going to categorize all of these needs in a must have, nice to have, or optional to assist you in your vendor evaluation.
00:07:09
Speaker
So these are all the things like ease of use. That seems like a really pretty simple requirement, but you would not believe how many people don't really think of that as a process and you get this flunky software that kind of does what it's supposed to do, but it's really hard to use.
00:07:26
Speaker
It could be things as simple as having a dark mode or having a bright mode or being able to change any of the features that are in there. It could be a list of, does it have a web version or is it onsite only? Is it cloud? Is it, can you get to it from your phone?
00:07:46
Speaker
You know, those are just part and partial to the items, but you need to have an entire list of all of the things that you want the software to solve.
00:07:57
Speaker
This is one of the reasons why you need a cross-functional team. You need a team from all the different areas. If you're talking about an EMR, you're talking about HIPAA high tech, and you have to make sure that the software meets the security requirements.
00:08:10
Speaker
Does all the users sharing a user account and password for this piece of software? You can't do that. So this is the kind of thing that you need to walk through all of the items that you have to have or would be nice to have in the software when it's all said and done.
00:08:29
Speaker
Got it. Makes a ton of sense. And what is step four after you've done that?
Step 4: Research Potential Vendors
00:08:36
Speaker
So once you've identified the problem, you've gathered your team, you've written out the scope, and you've identified all of the requirements, this is where you start researching all of the different software vendors that are available and identify these potential vendors.
00:08:53
Speaker
Unfortunately, this is often where people start is step four. So it's not uncommon for people to say, oh, hey, I found this new piece of software. We need to implement it We need to buy it.
00:09:04
Speaker
And they haven't done the previous three steps. Now, sometimes it works out. ah You wouldn't believe the number of times I've been handed a piece of software with none of the other steps being done. Way too many to mention.
00:09:17
Speaker
one time in 30 years it's worked out the way it was supposed to with none of the other things one time in dozens and dozens of attempts so once you've done the previous steps and you've gotten to step four this is where you take your scorecard and then you start looking at all the vendors that provide the software that you're looking for and then you start grading them does it do Part A, does it do Part B, does it do Part C, is it easy to use, does it have a web interface, does it have a phone app, all of the items that you've identified and how well does it do it.
00:09:52
Speaker
Does it have a great web interface, but the phone you know app is useless and most of your users are going to be using the phone app. Those are the types of things that you want to grade and market. And once I've done in the past, you can go out and Google or ask chat GPT to give you a list, but I've written pretty extensive scorecards, sometimes 30 to 40 lines long, and then grade one to five, one to 10, whatever you would like, add them up.
00:10:20
Speaker
And every one of those, you go through all the vendors and you grade them. You don't want to try to test and sample all of them. This should really come from the documentation and possibly reviews and things.
00:10:35
Speaker
You want to get down to a small list. this So this list should be the first pass to get you to a smaller list of vendors, two or three vendors that you'll actually run some testing with.
00:10:45
Speaker
And then you
Step 5: Structured Evaluations and Vendor Trials
00:10:46
Speaker
do a second scorecard on your hands-on testing. So this is a little bit of an iterative approach, but it's the kind of thing that This step here will basically prove whether or not this is going to work the way expect it to.
00:11:03
Speaker
Yeah. And I like that approach because sometimes we've we we rely a lot on our feelings and vibes and relationships and things like that. and But actually seeing it from a number standpoint and saying, hey, when we actually grade these, I know we think vendor a might be better, but the sheet is telling us that vendor B is better.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yes. And that bleeds into the next step, which is the structured core scorecard. I got a little ahead of myself. One of the things in here between demos and trials, make sure you get references and you call and speak to those references or email with them.
00:11:43
Speaker
The number, usually they give you references they've coached, but every once in a while you'll get a reference who will be like, yeah, we like it We have these kinds of issues with it. You may still go with that piece of software, but if you've identified possible issues before you start, it'll make your life a lot easier.
00:12:01
Speaker
Makes planning a lot easier. This is the step where you're validating the capabilities. You've gotten down to the two or three and you really want to understand, like for instance, if you're doing billing software, can we actually get bills out? Will it connect to our clearinghouse?
00:12:18
Speaker
Or is Waystar not a, you know, you can't connect to Waystar through this product. Those are the kinds of things that this area where you start getting into the nitty gritty
DOJ Task Force Discussion
00:12:27
Speaker
and piecing the elements together that will work or not work for your functions and the scope that you've created.
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah. And I personally, that's one of the reasons why I love to ask a forum. And also a lot of the state ASC associations have their own state and localized forums as well. It's just so interesting to see how many surgery centers get on there and say, hey, we have this particular software with our physician office. Has anyone integrated it yet with this other software? And you'll see dozens of replies. So to your point, getting those references that aren't given to you by the vendor is just so valuable.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, using the internet forums,
Step 6: Integration and Compliance Considerations
00:13:09
Speaker
ah it's that two minds are better than one kind of, but hundreds of them, you've got this kind of group think where you can use the, I can't remember what someone calls it, like the hive mind, where you can get better answers because you you get a bunch of different experiences that It's honestly one of the things that we've done in the past when we do this is each of the people or all the representatives on there, maybe just one from a team, will go out and do their own kind of form surfing
00:13:39
Speaker
to bring back from their perspective so for instance from an it i would have very specific questions if i'm hosting it in-house what kind of servers do i need is there lagginess do i have to have a specific storage area network is our network robust enough if it's cloud is it up all the time or does it have a lot of failure rates so there's Various questions that specific groups are going to ask, you have your accounting people, they're going to ask their specific questions. Can I close the month ah two two days after the end of the month, or do I have to wait for two weeks to do it?
00:14:11
Speaker
How are the reports? are ah good Are there good ad hoc reporting? Are there good canned reports? Or do we have to build everything from scratch? So those are the kinds of questions that you can go into forms that, the that in to be honest,
00:14:23
Speaker
Not every vendor salesperson is going to be trustworthy to tell you, unlike HSTs, whom I've known for a long time. But it's definitely one of those things that asking the end users who have experienced it are is going to be so valuable when you're doing this.
00:14:39
Speaker
Sure. Okay. So I know we bled into step five a little bit there, but is there anything else related to step five that you wanted to cover?
00:14:48
Speaker
Not really. the One of the things is if you can, you should absolutely trial the software. A lot of them that you can't do, for instance, if it's a local install and they're massive installs, take Workday, for instance.
00:15:03
Speaker
You can't just trial ah a private version of Workday, but they do have a test environment that you can go into and that you can play around with and work. Make sure you take advantage of the trials because that is one of those things that especially the end users, if it's ease of use and intuitive and they're trying to, they may go, Hey, this works great This is pretty easy. i understand what I'm supposed to do. Or you may get the, this is impossible to use. Everything's backwards. This is not how our workflow works.
00:15:34
Speaker
You'll discover a lot of those types of things in a trial. So I would definitely absolutely recommend that you take advantage of those. All right. That sounds good. What is step six?
Step 7: Cost Review and Contract Negotiation
00:15:47
Speaker
So step six starts getting into more of the, I would say nitty gritty of the pieces that are required that aren't necessarily outlined, but they're intrinsic.
00:16:00
Speaker
And that's the integration security and compliance of the software. So in an EMR software, you're obviously going to be looking at, yeah, it's all secure. The database is encrypted at rest.
00:16:13
Speaker
It's the data secured in transit. There's a way to share securely with outside folks. There's a way to share securely with the patients or a patient portal. But in other software, that those lines are a little bit more blurred.
00:16:25
Speaker
for One of the things that people frequently do is they email patient records. That's okay if you encrypt them. But if you're not encrypting them and there's no auto encrypt, then you're breaking the law. So you have to be very careful when you're selecting pieces of software that may interact with data or elements that are required to be secured or encrypted that the function of that software is there.
00:16:53
Speaker
So when you're ensuring the software integrates with current systems, You need to make sure you're complying with security standards, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC, those types of things.
00:17:05
Speaker
And it meets the regulatory requirements for your industry. We're specific to HIPAA high tech, but then you've got FFIEC if you're a financial and all those types of things.
00:17:18
Speaker
But if this system is going to talk to other systems, either API or HIE for HL7 types of interface in the healthcare industry,
00:17:29
Speaker
Matt Bolian, You have be able to know that you can interface between the systems, or you can data export import between the systems. Matt Bolian, along with security, the integration piece is very important, for instance, if you're running an EMR and you've got a GL systems like great planes or dynamics or something.
00:17:49
Speaker
You don't want to be typing from one system to the other because that introduces errors when you've got people manually typing things in. You want that data to flow from one system to the next.
00:18:00
Speaker
So those are the types of things that you need to be looking at this stage. Okay, we've come down to a specific piece of software or we're down to the last couple. Does it plug into the other systems we use.
00:18:11
Speaker
From the ASC side of things, for instance, if you've got clinics that the doctors work at that are actually sending patients over, or you've got a hospital system involved, and they're using NextGen or Epic or some other piece of software, and they want their the records uploaded to their system, you need make sure that the piece of software you're picking will interface with their systems appropriately.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yep. And I think that just goes back to assembling the right team as well. Cause I can't tell you how many times we've got to the end of step seven, which we'll talk about next or, and another integration question comes up or, oops, we forgot this one. And now we're, don't want to say back to square one, but we have some more work to do.
00:18:55
Speaker
All right. Bring us to step seven. So essentially you've come down to the final software, so to speak, the one that you've decided is going to run your business or you're going to use corporately or whatever.
00:19:08
Speaker
Now it's time to review all the costs and negotiate contracts. You're going to have some idea at this point of what the costs are going to be. You'll ask that early on because you want to make sure that it's within budget. When you're doing the financial analysis piece or when you're doing the actual selection criteria,
00:19:25
Speaker
This is where you're actually going to start negotiating though, because are you going to be in this for the long term? Are you wanting to just do this for a year? Some vendors require a minimum of three years, especially if there's a lot of front setup like an EMR system or even longer.
00:19:40
Speaker
So this is where you're going to go through the process of think calculating your total cost of ownership. That includes licensing, implementation, training, support, negotiating contract terms, service level agreements, renewal options, and vendor responsibilities.
00:19:56
Speaker
You wouldn't believe the number of times I've been in the middle of an implementation and come to find out that the vendor has foisted everything onto the purchaser to get everything done and implemented with no help from their side.
00:20:12
Speaker
that That's unfortunate it does happen. And generally speaking, the vendor is the expert on their own software. So if they've pushed it onto your user base, you could definitely have some problems. Now, it's not always the case, but it does happen.
00:20:29
Speaker
And you want to make sure that you understand all of that. And truth be told, that can you afford the software? There's a lot of hospitals that like to go on Epic, but Epic is the most expensive hospital software in existence.
00:20:43
Speaker
And it's one of those things that you should never start a project. This is a golden rule of projects. Never start a project you cannot stop. If you can't kill it midway through, don't start it.
00:20:56
Speaker
That's always a bad sign. That means you've done something that is is just, you don't want to put your organization at risk for a failed project.
00:21:05
Speaker
Yep, that makes a ton of sense. All right, what is our final step eight? So the
Step 8: Pilot and Decision Finalization
00:21:12
Speaker
final step is actually the beginning of the project, so to speak. This is where you pilot, test, and finalize. It says finalize the decision, but you've pretty much made your decision to this point. Or maybe you're down to two. You've done all of this, and you've got to two.
00:21:27
Speaker
Really, at this point, you are putting together. You've got your scoping document. you've got You've made your decision. You're ready to go. you're going to start implementation.
00:21:39
Speaker
But you want to go back and put in a pause. You talk to your user group. Make sure everybody's happy with the selection, the one you're going to pick. Make sure you've validated workflows.
00:21:53
Speaker
Collect any feedback. And at this point, once you've started the implementation, you'll most likely be assigned a project manager from the vendor side of things. You're going to want to have a project manager on your side of things.
00:22:08
Speaker
You want to also make sure that the vendor is responsive. There's a lot of times where you start a project and the vendor just doesn't respond in a timely fashion. We've had that a couple of times. if Fortunately, it's not very frequently, but it has happened where we'd send an email and 10 days would go by before we'd get a response. And when you're on a pretty tight timeline, trying to email people or call people, trying to get a hold hey, we've got a question or this isn't working right, and you're not getting it a response from the vendor, that can be really painful for an implementation.
00:22:43
Speaker
Any configuration changes that need to be made, implementing your workflow. Sometimes you buy a piece of software and you buy it because you want to use their workflow. Sometimes you buy a piece of software that you put your workflow into.
00:22:56
Speaker
So those are the kinds of things that you're going to work on and work through getting those figured out. This is where you may actually find that, hey, one of the two that we're looking at can't do this very specific piece. You've gone through all the testing, you've done all these things and you've basically come to the last stop and you're like, oh, we have a problem.
00:23:19
Speaker
So these are the kinds of things at this point where these should be mostly ironed out. ive I think I've maybe had one time where we've gotten to this point where we've had a pretty heavy roadblock.
00:23:31
Speaker
Unfortunately, we've had to go through that roadblock And it was not one of the happier moments of everybody's lives at that point. But we did get through it and we did make it work, but it ended up being a lot more work than we anticipated.
00:23:48
Speaker
So from this point, this is the step of we've finalized everything and now we're going to go to a rollout. if at all possible, you should absolutely stage or stagger a role if you can. Sometimes you can't. Sometimes it's the software is company-wide. It's a bunch of putting in an EMR can be difficult to deploy to departments. ASCs are generally pretty small, so it's just all or nothing for that.
00:24:17
Speaker
Sometimes if you're a larger organization, you can deploy it. If you're deploying new software, you can deploy it for one department. Make sure that everything works the way you expect it to. Make sure your configuration making sure your integrations are working.
00:24:32
Speaker
Sometimes, ah again, it's all or nothing, and you just have to work through all the issues as they come up. Sure. Yeah, and i think i just I think going through this process too or having a structured approach will help ASCs feel so much more confident by the time they get to this step as well versus just having come up with the process themselves or feeling like they're winging it and then they get to this final step and they're getting cold feet.
Updating Policies for HIPAA Changes
00:24:57
Speaker
It's nope, we've done all the necessary steps and everyone can feel good about where we're at.
00:25:04
Speaker
Yeah, um every software deployment process project there's going to be issues. But following these steps, are it's going to minimize, or you're at least going to identify if and when you're going to have issues and you'll be prepared for them.
00:25:21
Speaker
It's the old, if you're not planning, you're planning to succeed, you're planning for failure. It's that mentality of making sure that you've done all your homework before you start, before you get knee deep into a deployment, and then you've realized this is literally not going to work for our organization.
00:25:39
Speaker
And I've had that happen. I've had to back out of a deployment. I was basically given a piece of software. Hey, you got to deploy this. And I'm like, okay, where's the discovery map? Who's the team? What's the, oh no, we're not going to do any of that.
00:25:53
Speaker
I'm not joking. That was, I have an email from the CEO with that in there. And it was an unmitigated disaster. It almost caused the facility to fail.
00:26:05
Speaker
And i cannot stress enough, even if you don't follow this process, follow a process. Do your due diligence. Make sure you understand what you're getting into.
00:26:16
Speaker
You don't want to be surprised by costs. You don't want to be surprised by implementations. You don't want to be surprised by having to buy a bunch of hardware you weren't expecting to. Make sure you understand the scope and scale when you're doing this.
00:26:29
Speaker
And even if it's a little painful, you'll succeed. Love it. All right, Kevin, we do this every week with our guests. What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?
HIPAA Regulation Updates
00:26:46
Speaker
So I would recommend, and I know this is a pain in the butt, but make sure you've updated your IT policies and procedures. It's one of those things that's pretty pretty much on the back burner of everyone's list.
00:27:02
Speaker
And I know a lot of times the administrators just cruise through them once a year to make sure that, hey, I've touched my policies, but this year is a big year. The OCR and CMS are updating HIPAA high tech, and there's gonna be a whole new set of things that are gonna be required. Now, technically speaking, they're already in the law, but because of the way it was written and the way the final rule was produce produced in 2018,
00:27:32
Speaker
there's been a lot of failures and from an audit perspective from ocr's viewpoint so they're going back to circle back around the changes were introduced they were put out for request for comments that process i think ended march 7th march seventeenth sometime in march and They're reviewing all of the comments now. So we expect sometime before the end of the year that they're going to make all of the changes official. You can go out to the CMS OCR website and it will actually list them. It's pretty legal ease, a lot of text, but your policies and procedures are going to have to be updated. I would say wait until those come out and make sure that you get them done in a timely fashion.
00:28:16
Speaker
but one of the requirements that we know is going to make it is they're gonna absolutely require you to have your data documented in a basically a Visio chart.
00:28:27
Speaker
So where's your data reside everywhere in your environment, you know, expect the patient data essentially. So your policies or procedures, those documents, diagrams, make sure those are completed.
00:28:38
Speaker
You'll have 180 days once the rule goes final, but I would say, don't wait. I would say as soon as the rule's final, get working on that because you don't want to get caught at the end of that time period.
00:28:51
Speaker
That is great advice. Thank you so much for coming on today. We really appreciate it. You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
00:29:02
Speaker
As
Regulatory Reforms and ASC Benefits
00:29:03
Speaker
always, it has been a busy week in healthcare, so let's jump right in. The U.S. Department of Justice's new anti-competitive regulations task force is putting ASC regulatory reform in the spotlight.
00:29:16
Speaker
Launched in March, the task force is focused on eliminating laws and policies that limit competition and ASCs were quick to weigh in. From March to May, the DOJ invited public comment and multiple surgery center stakeholders spoke out against the burdens of the certificate of need laws, the Medicare inpatient only list, and the OAS CAPS survey requirement.
00:29:39
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One commenter compared CON laws to McDonald's needing permission from Wendy's to open, while another flagged the financial burden of mandated patient satisfaction surveys.
00:29:51
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Reimbursement disparities between ASEs and HOPDs also drew criticism with commentators noting the barriers they create for independent centers. ASCA submitted a formal comment as well, pushing for more flexibility in converting between HOPD and ASC status, better payment alignment, removal of outdated CMS policies like the ASC weight scaler, and a broader ASC-covered procedures list.
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For ASCs, this could mark a real turning point. With a federal task force now spotlighting ASC-specific barriers, leaders have a real opportunity to shape policy. We all know that the certificate of need laws specifically have been a thorn in the side for many states for a really long time, and this could be a real opportunity finally for these laws to be evaluated and even eliminated.
00:30:42
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With the right reforms, ASCs could see fewer roadblocks, fair reimbursement, and a stronger competitive position in outpatient care. So make sure you stay informed and close to ASCA and your ASC state associations so you can get involved and have a say.
Ascension's Acquisition of AMSURG
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All right, switching gears, Ascension is making a major move into outpatient care with the acquisition of AMSURG. The Catholic nonprofit health system announced it's acquiring AMSURG's network of 250 plus ASCs across 34 states.
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These centers specialize in high demand services like GI, ophthalmology, and orthopedics, key areas where patients want more flexibility, affordable, convenient care outside of the hospital.
00:31:29
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The deal supports Ascension's broader goal of transforming healthcare delivery by expanding access to community-based care. Now, a spokesperson for the health system declined to comment on the size of the deal.
00:31:41
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However, sources told Bloomberg that Ascension allegedly paid $3.9 billion dollars to the provider. AmSurg brings decades of ASC expertise. As you all know, they have strong physician partnerships and a track record of quality outcomes.
00:31:58
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Ascension plans to maintain Amsurge's physician-led joint venture model, ensuring local clinical leadership remains central. This acquisition builds on Ascension's strategy to adapt to the accelerating shift from inpatient to outpatient care while staying grounded in its mission of compassion and service.
00:32:16
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So this acquisition is just another clear sign that large health systems are a laser focused on outpatient care right now. So for ASC leaders, this validates the long-term viability of outpatient surgical care and just reinforces the value of those strong physician partnerships.
00:32:32
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And as consolidation continues, independent centers may need to double down on local relationships, operational efficiency, and niche specialties to remain competitive.
00:32:44
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All right, let's switch to a Becker's article.
ASC Growth Opportunities and Technologies
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So four ASC leaders joined Becker's to answer the question, what is currently the biggest opportunity for growth in ASCs?
00:32:55
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Here are their answers. So Trina Cole is the administrator of St. Luke's Surgery Center at Lee's Summit. And she said, in my perspective, the biggest opportunity is the release of cases from the hospital and hospital outpatient areas, such as cardiology, that have been approved to be performed at the ASC level.
00:33:16
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HST actually just released some benchmarking data for cardiovascular centers, and the average net revenue per case is $4,733, which is the second highest of all the specialties.
00:33:29
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So Trina's advice here is definitely something to take seriously.
00:33:34
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Greg DeConcilius is the administrator at Boston Outpatient Surgical Suites, and he said, continue to grow organically through the hallmarks of ASC success, efficiency and patient and surgeon satisfaction.
00:33:48
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Utilize technology to prevent cancellations and increase throughput. Try and get an extra case or two in each OR every day. It will definitely add up. He also added analyze costs.
00:34:00
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Are your preference cards up to date? Does your staff know what to open and not to open on the table? Incentivize staff to save money through controlling costs. Work with your vendors to standardize and achieve cost savings.
00:34:12
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And above all, ensure your surgeons have an extremely pleasant and efficient day to operate. Make them not want to operate anywhere else. And of course, the same with the patients. Wow them with their experience and they will tell a friend.
00:34:27
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Richard Evans, vice president of surgical services at Bon Secours Charity Health System, shared the biggest opportunity for ASC growth is orthopedics, urology, and podiatry.
00:34:38
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The cost of the robots is easily covered with total joint replacement surgery. Now, again, hsc compiled our client data and found that the average net revenue for a total joints case is roughly $16,000. That is overwhelmingly the highest specialty, with cardiovascular again coming in second with roughly $4,700 per case.
00:35:00
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So Dr. Evans is correct. With the right strategic planning, the high price tag of a robot could easily be covered over time. And lastly, Tracy Helmer, administrator of Tri-City Surgical Centers, shared similar advice.
00:35:15
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Emerging technology is allowing for more and more procedures to be done in safer, less invasive, and more efficient ways. This allows for patients to consider surgery in outpatient settings.
00:35:26
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A great example is total joint replacements. Years ago, this would have never been possible, but now it is becoming a standard. This is exciting and benefits patients the most. So there you have it, some quick advice from four ASC leaders.
00:35:42
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And to end our new segment on a positive note, okay, this story starts dark, but I promise you it will end on a positive note.
Inspiring Nursing Story: Rachel Stewart
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In 2020, while studying for finals, Rachel Stewart was rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding and a collapsed lung.
00:35:59
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Doctors discovered a massive spinal nerve tumor requiring urgent intervention. The procedure saved her life, but left her paralyzed from the chest down. With a T4 spinal cord injury, she paused nursing school and began a long journey of rehab therapy and personal transformation.
00:36:16
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Inspired by her mentor, Dr. Robert Harmon, who also lives with a spinal cord injury, Stewart refused to give up on nursing. She worked tirelessly to heal, relearn everyday tasks, and eventually walk again.
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More importantly, she returned to school, earned her BSN, and now serves at Memorial Harmon, specializing in spinal cord injuries, the very condition she knows firsthand.
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Her lived experience gives her a level of empathy few can match. She said, it's one thing to empathize. It's another to truly know what they're feeling. Her patients receive more than medical care. They receive strength, hope, and someone who deeply understands.
00:36:56
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For her resilience, compassion, and unwavering dedication, Rachel Stewart is the Daily Nurse's Nurse of the Week. And that officially wraps up this week's podcast. Thank
Episode Conclusion and Listener Engagement
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you, as always, for spending a few minutes of your week with us.
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Make sure to subscribe or leave a review on whichever platform you're listening from. I hope you have a great day and we will see you again next week.