From Department Turmoil To Total Efficiency
In October 2005, ASC contracted with a rural northern Michigan hospital to fully run all anesthesia services. Prior to our arrival, the department was in total disarray, and several surgeons were threatening to no longer operate at the facility. Operating expenses had spiraled out of control, with the utilization of primarily a Locums (agency) staffing model.
One year later, a more consistent staff had been put in place, and their annual anesthesia expenses had been reduced by over one million dollars.  During this same period, surgeon and administrative satisfaction improved dramatically, and surgical volume had risen ten percent. 

ASC Consulting Results In Increased Revenue
During a recent revenue and billing analysis of a medium-sized hospital in central Michigan, ASC uncovered over $900,000 in unbilled and uncollected anesthesia revenue during the twelve month period preceding the review, all attributable to one single issue. Several additional opportunities for revenue enhancement were also identified during the review process, providing a total annual improvement opportunity of over $1,000,000. ASC developed new internal processes to correct the problems, and provided the personnel training necessary for implementation. Within a few short weeks the issues were corrected, and controls were in place to quickly identify future problems.

A Surgical Center’s Extreme Makeover
When one of the area’s busiest and most successful cosmetic surgeons left an existing practice, fast action was required. In as little as three weeks, an office-based cosmetic surgery practice was established and fully functional. ASC was an integral part of this process by assisting in the identification, organization and setup of a new office-based surgical suite while:

• Ensuring compliance with relevant standards of care,
• Developing patient care policies and protocols,
• Establishing a highly skilled anesthesia group which could respond to the changing needs of a newly established practice.

Making The Most of A Hospital Merger
A merger of four mid-Michigan hospitals into one large, newly constructed facility challenged the logistics, staffing, business practices and cultures for the anesthesiologists involved. The anesthesiology group was confronted with issues regarding quality-of-care as well as the employment and management of CRNAs.  For two solid years, ASC provided hands-on assistance to the newly formed anesthesiologist group by:

• Providing day-to-day operational management of anesthesia services
• Developing patient care policies and protocols
• Establishing equipment and supply budgeting, ordering, billing and stocking procedures
• Recruiting new CRNA and physician staff
• Developing professional fee billing procedures and selecting an outside billing agency
• Ensuring compliance with The Joint Commission and all other regulatory/accrediting agencies

ASC continues to provide flexible staffing and consulting for this well established and highly regarded anesthesiology group. Recently, ASC worked with local universities to establish the facility as a primary clinical site for nurse anesthesia education, further enhancing the groups’ CRNA recruiting abilities and workforce pool.

Improved Anesthesia Staffing Secures Accreditation
Two free-standing, physician-owned ambulatory surgery centers were functioning under a joint operating agreement and trying to secure Blue Cross accreditation. The facility’s management team became dissatisfied with the flexibility and quality of their existing anesthesia group. With a time frame of less than six months to meet the surgical volume requirements, ASC was brought in to upgrade quality, enhance surgical boarding flexibility, and assist in surgeon recruitment.

In short order, ASC was instrumental in:

• Providing a consistent group of anesthesiologists and CRNAs while maintaining sufficient flexibility to accommodate the volume fluctuations that led to the prior groups failure
• Facilitating surgical boarding, thereby maximizing the numbers of cases performed by existing medical staff and opening desirable surgical block time to new, non-owner physicians
• Achieving consensus on patient care policies which met relevant professional and community standards

Two years later, the facilities have sustained marked volume increases and marked improvements in surgeon and patient satisfaction surveys. For the first time, patients specifically mention anesthesia care as a positive aspect of their surgical experience. In addition, and largely due to the success demonstrated at these two centers, ASC has since begun fully staffing and managing anesthesia services at a third ambulatory surgery center in the same area.