What’s the difference?

In the 1970s, two physicians in Arizona established the first ASC with the goal of providing hospital-quality surgical care in a more convenient and comfortable setting. The idea addressed some very important patient needs – cost, comfort, and convenience—and the idea caught on, with more and more ASCs opening their doors to patients all across the country.

Today, up to 22 million surgeries and procedures are performed at Ambulatory Surgery Centers each year in the United States.

 Over the last four decades, ASCs have earned a long track record of high quality and patient safety, and maintain very high patient satisfaction levels at a time when health consumers are at odds with most of America’s health system. And ASCs are cost-effective, offering our over-stressed system a way to control costs both for patients and the payers of services, including government programs like Medicare.

  Ambulatory surgery allows a person to return home on the same day that a surgical procedure is performed. Ambulatory surgery is also referred to as “outpatient surgery” or same-day surgery.

        Outpatient surgery eliminates inpatient hospital admission, reduces the amount of medication prescribed, and uses a doctor’s time more efficiently. More procedures are now being performed in a surgeon’s office, termed office-based surgery, rather than in an operating room.

        Outpatient surgery is suited best for healthy people undergoing minor or intermediate procedures (limited urologic, ophthalmologic, or ear, nose, and throat procedures and procedures involving the extremities). Recently, people with more complex medical problems are undergoing outpatient surgery, and the types and complexity of surgical procedures have expanded significantly.

        More than 60% of elective surgery procedures in the United States are currently performed as outpatient surgeries. Health experts expect this percentage will increase to nearly 75% over the next decade.

        Outpatient surgery has developed over the past 3 decades for a number of reasons, including the following:
 

• Improved surgical instruments
• Less invasive surgical techniques
• A team approach in preparing a person for surgery and home recovery that involves both a surgeon and an anesthesiologist (a medical doctor who specializes in administering anesthesia medications so the patient feels no pain and does not remember the surgery)
• The desire to reduce health care costs

 ASCs save the government $2.3 billion each year.

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Most Americans associate surgery with a stay in a traditional hospital. But for those having same-day surgery or other procedures where the recovery time is less than 24 hours, an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) can be a cost effective and convenient alternative to hospital admission. 

 Technological and medical breakthroughs are transforming what it means to have surgery in America. Procedures that were once lengthy and complex with extended periods of recovery are now routinely performed as safe, outpatient procedures. We’re treating conditions better and faster and for less, thanks to ASCs.

 Simply put, an ASC is a self-contained, comprehensive surgery department. ASCs play an essential role in healthcare today – creating a vital middle level between a visit to the doctor’s office and an expensive, unnecessary hospital admission. It’s a role that will only become more important as America’s population ages and National Healthcare Reform continues to evolve the way care is delivered in our country.

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The Ambulatory Surgical Center Association (ASCA) announces 2011′s National Day. 

Symbion HealthCare and it 60+ facilities across the US celebrate National ASC Open House Day.  The day provides an opportunity for ambulatory surgical centers to share successful outcomes and provide tours of the outpatient surgical setting as well promote further education to communities it serves.  The Symbion family of ASCs is proud to serve its physicians, staff and patient with safe, convenient and effective care in a lower cost setting than most hospital, in-patient facilities.  Its specialties include: Gastroenterology, Orthopedics, Spine Care, Pain Management, Ophthalmology, Urology, Gynecological Surgery and Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery.  While most settings, in-patient and out-patient are safe and effective, Symbion’s facilities are consistently held to the highest standards in terms of quality, surgical outcomes and patient satisfaction.  We invite you to share your experiences with us – “What’s unique about your ASC?”  “How has your staff changed the lives of your patients?”  “What do your physicians like most about your facility?”

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In case you missed it, earlier this week Symbion announced a senior secured notes offering in connection with proposed refinancing.  The company’s goal has always been to provide the most advantageous capital structure in order to provide capital for our existing markets, enhance growth initiatives and provide a favorable financial structure for itself.  This plan will put the company in a better position to continue doing so.

Symbion HealthCare, an owner and operator of short stay surgical facilities, today announced that it plans to issue an aggregate principal amount of $350 million of senior secured notes due 2016 (the “Notes”) in a private placement.  Click here for more information

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Outpatient surgery centers or Ambulatory Surgery Centers have been defined many different ways (Definition of Ambulatory Surgery Center).  However, the descriptions aren’t typically from the prospectives of the care provider. 

We wanted to extend an offer to change that.  Please participate in our blog question series regarding your uniqueness from the standpoint of customer service, out-of-pocket costs, your facilities, clinical care, outcomes and/or your physicians’ skills.  What’s unique about YOUR outpatient surgery center (staff, physicians, patients, costs, parking, quality, etc.) ?

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