Emerging Trends: The Velocity of Change

I believe the velocity of change is more rapid in health care than it is in any other industry. That’s a good thing. It’s this exponential growth that has allowed ASCs and HOPDs to deliver care today that was unimaginable only a decade ago. 

As someone who has had the privilege of providing outpatient care during a time of such profound change, I know firsthand how quickly the industry can undergo seismic shifts and how frequently new trends can emerge to disrupt the very fabric of our day-to-day operations. It wasn’t too long ago that many surgery centers were primarily single-specialty sites. In many cases, these facilities did one thing, such as cataract cases, exceptionally well — but they only did that one thing. 

Today, most ASCs can do much more than some insurers and/or CMS has approved them to do. Indeed, with the emergence of cardiovascular service lines and a rapid increase in ASC-based spinal surgical procedures, facilities are proving there is very little that practitioners can’t do in an outpatient setting. Because of these rapid changes, it’s imperative for surgical leaders to have their fingers on the pulse of the industry and prepare and respond proactively instead of reactively. Of course, this is easier said than done, particularly in a financial environment where the exact same quality of care can be delivered in both an HOPD or ASC — and reimbursed completely differently in each setting. 

As we have witnessed with recent regulatory changes, CMS can add and remove procedures from the inpatient-only or ASC-payable lists from year to year without a whole lot of clinical justification to back up those decisions.

So how do you plan for a future in such an uncertain regulatory environment? The same way we’ve always done it: By focusing on providing the safest, most efficient care to all of our patients. In the pages of this Outpatient Surgery Magazine Special Edition on Emerging Trends, you’ll read about the changes in the industry that are likely to impact outpatient facilities for years to come. For instance, there’s a story about attracting and retaining staff — a timeless challenge that seems more urgent than ever thanks to a pandemic that has exacerbated an already growing staff shortage and given people even more reasons not to choose a career in health care.

Whether we’re talking about the latest focus areas for infection control or describing the technological innovations that have allowed us to perform high-acuity spine surgeries in an ASC, the cornerstone of our success as leaders of HOPDs and ASCs will always hinge on maintaining a culture where each person involved in the surgical process knows that their voice matters. 

We will always need to create and maintain OR environments where every member of the team truly understands they play a vital role in the delivery of exceptional patient care. Regardless of what the future holds for outpatient surgery, we must never lose sight of that goal. OSM