By Bob Balduf, RN
All ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) face the challenge of managing and meeting surgeons’ expectations and requests for the best equipment – while also maintaining a strict budget. Doctors’ expectations for surgical facilities are based not only on the surgeons’ preferences, but also the reliability of the staff members, past experience with the facility, ease of equipment use and availability of necessary training. Utilizing an outsourcing equipment provider allows a facility to fill these requests without hassle or added expense. As the director of Parkway Surgery Center Ltd., I have experienced firsthand the benefits of utilizing outsourcing for cataract procedures. Our facility offers surgical services including colon-rectal surgery, ENT/otolaryngology, general surgery, gynecology/oncology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, plastic surgery and urology. Ophthalmology is currently the only service for which we use outsourcing.
I have been with the facility since it opened in 1998 and was involved in making the decision to outsource using Sightpath Medical – an ophthalmic equipment provider that can outsource on a fixed or mobile basis – versus purchasing our own equipment. Our arrangement allows us to order equipment and supplies on a case-by-case basis, with our outsourcing partner providing the items the doctor has specified. We are able to budget for these procedures easily, knowing that by outsourcing, we are cutting out most variable costs. Outsourcing services allow facilities to enjoy professionally managed cataract surgery, with no capital investment, costly purchase orders, maintenance fees, service agreements or inventory management. This allows facilities to build business, simplify budgets and keep up with evolving technology, all while receiving service tailored to their facility.
Building Business
Our facility does on average 9,000 to 10,000 surgeries a year, with about 1,000 of those being cataract procedures. We currently have three groups of ophthalmologists who use our facility, with a total of eight different doctors. Our facility is partially physician-owned and partially hospital-owned.
Despite the fact that our ophthalmologists are all investors in other centers, they choose to perform their surgeries at Parkway Surgery Center specifically for its ease of use and the fact that we provide them with an operating room that meets their specifications. Outsourcing can help grow your business while increasing ophthalmology cases by:
· Enabling the facility to accommodate surgeon’s preferences – outsourcing allows an ASC to provide each ophthalmologist with the equipment, lenses and instrumentation that match their preferences.
· Providing a well-trained certified staff – along with the most up-to-date technology, staff will also receive training for handling lenses and equipment from a sales rep. This training is setup by our partner at no extra cost to the facility. If a facility does not have its own surgical staff, the outsourcing company will provide National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA) certified surgical technicians for each procedure. Ensured access to highly trained staff helps ASCs retain and attract surgeons, keeping case loads high.
· Allowing maximized scheduling – outsourcing cuts down on OR prep and turnover time by reducing staff time needed to gather instrumentation and lenses, allowing more procedures to be booked in one day.
