Shining a New Light on the Darker Shadows of Healthcare

Shining a New Light on the Darker Shadows of Healthcare

I am writing this month’s letter at an altitude of 30,000 feet as I wing my way back to Phoenix. I am freshly returned from both the annual meetings of the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (AAASC) and the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). It’s appropriate to speak of trade shows, since you will probably be reading this as you attend this year’s meeting of the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA). It’s a hectic, exciting time for the industry, as we come together to share ideas and best practices, discuss mutual challenges, and plot out course for the rest of the year ahead, which is filled with opportunities to champion patient safety, uphold quality, and continue to leverage our successes against the continued onslaught of political propaganda from detractors.

Capitol Hill continues to be ground zero for much of healthcare’s agenda of priority items; at AAASC, lobbyist Michael Romansky delivered a riveting and insightful update on the political scene relevant to ASCs’ fight for equal reimbursement footing and rights for physicians to conduct sound healthcare business, and at AORN, participants heard from Newt Gingrich, who had some definite ideas on how the concept of saving lives and saving money are not mutually exclusive, but that the government must get in step with a patient-centric strategy that includes transparency of healthcare costs and a consumer-driven approach to making that cost information accessible publicly.

These are not new messages, of course, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of why we are in this industry, and get fired up over the potential to effect real change. The point is, healthcare is one of the last significant sectors in which transparency – whether it’s the real costs of a procedure or of medications, is not readily transparent and omnipresent.

Most healthcare consumers don’t understand the real costs associated with the delivery of healthcare services, and they also have been kept in the dark about quality performance and infection, morbidity, and mortality rates at healthcare facilities. Disclosure of this data has not been demanded until only very recently, with new mandatory reporting laws and quality improvement initiatives attempting to shine some bright light on the shadowy side of healthcare.

Of great comfort to the industry is the knowledge that ASCs traditionally have very little, if anything at all, to hide. They sprung from the desire to provide a solution to the emerging problems of inefficiencies, indifferent care, and skyrocketing costs at traditional hospitals, and in the last 30 years of ASCs’ lifespan, the ambulatory surgery industry has welcomed transparency as a byproduct of its mission statement to provide the highest level of care at the lowest possible cost – with that kind of lean and straightforward goal, there’s nowhere for deception to hide.

Don’t miss Kathy Bryant’s take on what lies ahead for ASCs, starting on page 12. As we convene for this year’s FASA meeting, let’s continue the tradition of proactive outreach, unceasing advocacy, and active and meaningful dialogue that furthers the pursuit of quality, accessible healthcare. Let there be light!

Until next month,

Kelly M. Pyrek
Editor in Chief
kpyrek@vpico.com