ASCAC Highlights Concerns with Governor Christie’s Transition Team Report
Reaffirms Commitment to High-Quality, Patient-Centered Care in New Jersey
Washington, D.C., January 2010 – The Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee (ASCAC), which includes the national and state ASC associations as well as representatives of all types of ASC operators and physicians, expressed concern today with provisions of the report to Governor Chris Christie from his Health and Senior Services Transition Team sub-committee issued January 22, 2010. The report misrepresents the vital role ASCs play in the delivery of important surgical services to the citizens of New Jersey.
Like many states, New Jersey is facing tough choices in setting priorities for state funding. The report addresses several issues currently facing the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services (NJDHSS) and recommends certain limitations on ASCs in the Governor’s first term that, if implemented, could jeopardize the access that patients in New Jersey have to the high-quality care provided by ASCs. The ASCAC is committed to working with Governor Christie, physicians, hospitals and other stakeholders in New Jersey. Helping patients receive care in the lowest cost setting appropriate for their clinical condition is smart medical care and sound fiscal policy.
“ASCs are important providers of health care services in New Jersey, delivering value, quality and unparalleled patient-centered care,” states Andrew Hyack, Chair of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee and President and Chief Executive Officer of Surgical Care Affiliates. “Our industry looks forward to collaborating with state policymakers and other health care providers to advance informed health policy decisions focused on improving patient outcomes and creating significant savings for both New Jerseyans and the overall health care system.”
ASCs are an integral member of the country’s health care system. More than 22 million procedures are performed annually in approximately 5,200 Medicare-certified ASCs nationwide, over 200 of which are in New Jersey. ASCs perform several surgical procedures that previously were performed exclusively in hospitals, including a wide array of preventative and diagnostic outpatient procedures. In New Jersey, for example, ASCs provide approximately 60 percent of colonoscopies to the Medicare population. Additional ASC services span more than a dozen specialties, including orthopedic, ophthalmology, gynecology, ENT (ear, nose and throat), general surgery, GI (gastroenterology) and pain management.
The report identifies reducing healthcare costs and improving patients’ access to health care services among its priorities, yet fails to recognize the role that ASCs play in providing patients with a cost-effective and convenient choice when it comes to their health care.
In New Jersey and across the country, ASCs save Medicare beneficiaries an estimated 56 percent on their coinsurance and, overall, save Medicare approximately $2 billion per year. The cost to the Medicare program and the taxpayer is about 41 percent less for services performed in ASCs than what hospitals receive for the same procedure.
The report also criticizes ASCs for providing lower levels of care for the un- and under-insured, including Medicaid populations, compared to community hospitals. However, the report does not consider the tax exempt benefit – more than $20 billion in revenue – exclusive to nonprofit community hospitals for the care provided to these populations.
Many ASCs are small businesses privately owned by physicians, often in partnership with management companies or community hospitals. Hospitals, increasingly, are partnering with physicians to open outpatient centers in communities across the country, recognizing the value of ASCs as a viable health care delivery model.
“Quality care, convenience and value should be a priority for all health care providers,” said Andrew Weiss, CASC Administrator, The Endo Center at Voorhees “In my ASC, we are proud to provide patients with superior outcomes and patient centered care at a lower cost. In fact, when asked, patients often prefer ASCs over other outpatient facilities.”
ASCs are also committed to transparency within the community and are working on several initiatives measuring quality in the facilities. Since 2006, ASC industry leaders and trade associations with a focus on health care quality and safety regulation have worked together to develop quality measures appropriate for ASCs. The National Quality Forum has already endorsed six of these measures. The ASC industry has repeatedly urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to collect this data nationally to provide consumers in all 50 states, including New Jersey, the information needed to make an educated decision about their health care service provider.
About the Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee
Ambulatory Surgery Centers are health care facilitates that specialize in providing important surgical and preventive services in an outpatient setting. With approximately 5,200 Medicare-certified facilities throughout the country, ASCs perform more than 22 million surgeries per year. The Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee is working on behalf of the industry to raise awareness of the important role that ASCs play in the health care system and the high-quality, cost-effective care that ASCs provide. The ASCAC includes the national and state ASC associations as well as representatives of all types of ASC operators and physicians. For more information about ASCs, visit www.ascassociation.org.
Media Contact:
Kay Tucker, ASCA
(703) 836-8808
ktucker@ascassociation.org
