Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of co-presenting with Dr. Arnold Seto, Cath Lab Director, Long Beach VA Medical Center, Private Practitioner, Cardiovascular Care Inc., Professor of Medicine, Charles Drew University, Associate Professor of Medicine, UC-Irvine, and Treasurer, SCAI at our spring conference in Scottsdale, AZ. We began our conversation with what’s in and…
As the pandemic ushered in site-of-care shifts and new care models that were driven out of clinical necessity, care has forever been changed. We are seeing declining inpatient use rates and accelerated shifts to outpatient models, which resulted in increasing innovation in the delivery of care within the home and ambulatory setting. These are just…
Choosing the Right Delivery Model Traditionally, vascular and cardiac procedures were performed in hospital-based operating rooms or specialized interventional suites. However, advancements in technology and changes in healthcare delivery models have led to the emergence of Office-based labs (OBL) and ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) as an alternative setting for certain procedures. The concept of office-based…
Recovering From Revenue Shortfalls Hospitals and health systems have been facing common challenges since the onset of COVID, leading to low margins for the past few years. According to Deloitte’s 2023 Outlook for Health Care, hospitals and health systems experienced consistent negative operating margins in 2022, resulting in low patient volumes, revenue decreases, and high…
“Putting predictability in an unpredictable situation is grounding and comforting to patients.” A few weeks ago, I received news that no son wants to hear, “Hello Mr. Kirkes, your 84-year-old mother is in our emergency room with a broken humerus.” My mother fell in the middle of the night while getting up to use the…
With advances in Cardiology procedure technology and the goal of achieving a lower cost of care, there has been a visible shift in procedures from the inpatient to the outpatient settings. Several changes in CMS rulings in the last fifteen years have spurred an increase in office-based laboratories (“OBLs”), including catheterization laboratories and vascular access…
Cardiac Procedures in the ASC: A Timeline In 2016, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) added pacemaker implants to the list of approved procedures that could be performed and reimbursed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). In 2019, diagnostic cath procedures were added to the list, and in 2020, six cardiac percutaneous interventional (PCI)…
Why Should You Consider an Ambulatory Surgery Center in 2023? Is an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) in your strategic plan for the near future? If not, it’s worth considering! ASCs have not only proven to be more convenient, offering a streamlined and personalized experience for the patient, but also have shown to be significantly more…
