ASCs Celebrate National Open House Day 2005

ASCs Celebrate National Open House Day 2005

In celebration of the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA)’s National Open House Day 2005, approximately 20 events took place across the country, with facilities opening their doors to their communities to demonstrate the advantages of ambulatory healthcare. Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in 14 states took part in this year’s National Open House Day held Aug. 2, 2005; their programs featured a variety of innovative activities in which to engage community members, including interactive patient education sessions, 5K walks, and family-oriented activities.

Participating in this year’s events were: Central Jersey Ambulatory Surgical, Central Maine Orthopedics, Chandana Surgery Center, East Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center, Eye Associates Surgery Center, Grants Pass Surgery Center, Irving Surgery Center, Kearney Surgery Center, Lake Park Surgicare, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center, New Port Richy Surgery Center, Physician Surgery Center, Riverside Community Surgi-Center, Skyway Surgery Center, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center, Special Surgery of Houston, Surgical Center of South Texas, The Surgery Center of Beaufort, Unity Surgical Arts, and Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center.

Many of the ASCs targeted a business and physician audience, including Central Maine Orthopedics, which invited to its open house various businesses in the central Maine area, along with state House representatives. Thirty-four guests attended the event, including the mayor of Auburn, Maine, three state representatives, the city of Auburn administrator, and three workers’ compensation company representatives. The center’s medical director spoke about why ASCs are important and what they offer the community.

Specialty Surgery of Houston targeted area surgeons by inviting them to view new electronic systems that display MRI pictures while in surgery. This approach allowed the center to elevate physician awareness of ambulatory surgery facilities.

Some centers worked closely with their local media. For the second consecutive year, Chandana Surgery Center, located in Valparaiso Ind., offered free health screenings and tours, and gave attendees a voucher worth $30 for a complete health profile from a local clinical lab. There was also a police officer onsite to complete free child identification kits for parents. The ASC was featured in the local paper, using many of the messages provided in the FASA National Open House Day tool kit. The center also tailored the news release and posted it on its Web site. The event drew more than 50 people from the community, who enjoyed refreshments, door prizes, and giveaways.

In South Carolina, the Surgery Center of Beaufort’s director used facts provided in the FASA tool kit to develop a bylined article about ASCs that was published in the Beaufort Gazette.

The Grants Pass Surgery Center, located in Grants Pass, Ore., celebrated its first open house by inviting a local radio station to attend, as well as welcoming members of the community to the facility for free glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol screenings. The facility also offered information on colonoscopy, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and nutrition, and handed out gift bags that included a pen with the center’s name on it.

Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center, located in Bethesda, Md., invited community members to take an inside look at an ASC, and offered free healthcare screenings and patient education programs. The facility is one of 347 ASCs in Maryland and offers a variety of outpatient surgical procedures including orthopedic, urological, podiatry, and pain management.

“Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center is a community-based healthcare provider that offers safe, efficient, and patient-centered care,” says Randy Gross, the center’s executive director. “Our center is part of a national trend that is offering healthcare consumers an important and patient-friendly alternative to hospitals. The National ASC Open House Day gives us a chance to raise consumer awareness and demonstrate our role in meeting Maryland’s healthcare needs.”

Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center offered free health screenings, in-depth and interactive patient education sessions ranging from pain management in cancer patients to diabetic foot care with two renowned medical experts and a guided facility tour.

Isadora Paynter, of Silver Spring, Md., had knee surgery at Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center and said that her experience at the facility was “pleasant and very personal.” She noted the “relaxing ambience of the facility, hospitality of the staff, and the sincere effort exerted by each person on her medical team to put her at ease.”

“Patients need to know that they have options for outpatient surgery,” says John F. Dombrowski, MD, a nationally recognized pain management expert who practices at Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center. “ASCs are conveniently located in neighborhoods across the country. More importantly, they are safe, efficient, and designed by the people who best understand how to deliver quality surgical care — doctors.”

Bethesda resident Jerry Pfeffer, another Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center patient, says that he “chose to have his surgery at the center because of its convenient location, informal, relaxed atmosphere, and its state-of-the-art surgical facilities.” He also noted that “the center is able to provide a level of privacy and personal attention that can be difficult to obtain in most conventional hospital settings”.

Michael H. Theodoulou, DPM, a renowned podiatric surgeon who also practices at the ASC, says that the open house will “help educate healthcare consumers so they can make more informed decisions before they need surgery.”

He adds that ASCs are stepping up to meet America’s surgical needs by ensuring that patients have the access to services they need, when they need them and at a cost they can afford.

Consumers and doctors say that safe and high-quality services, ease of scheduling, greater personal attention, and affordability are among the main reasons for the growing popularity of ASCs. For Medicare patients, the savings can be significant. Earlier this year, a study found that Medicare pays significantly more for procedures performed in a hospital outpatient department (HOPD) than it pays for the same procedures in an ASC. Looking at 2003 Medicare HOPD claims for procedures on Medicare’s ASC list and adjusting for 2005 rules and rates, the study found that claims cost Medicare an average of $320 less per claim in an ASC compared to an HOPD.

“(Through the National Open House Day) hundreds of community members got to know their local ASCs better,” says Kathy Bryant, executive vice president of FASA. “Should the day come when a surgical procedure is needed, they will know that ASCs are there for them to provide high-quality, patien-tfocused and affordable care.”