Posted: December 14th, 2016

What are some strategies you would use to increase referrals to your ASC while maintaining high patient satisfaction scores

Question

Assignment 4: (20 points) Final Project- AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER CASE STUDY (Power Point Presentation) .

In the final project, students will apply the knowledge gained in this course to a case example.

Each student will select one of the scenarios below and develop a 10-12 slide PowerPoint presentation to discuss the current status of the organization, provide an overview of the organization, and make recommendations on how to manage the selected problem. You must include one or more slides that address the degree to which the Affordable Care Act might impact these services. Use APA formatting references and your reference slides. For this presentation, your title slide does not have to be in APA format.

Info on ASC’s here:

http://www.ascassociation.org/

SCENARIO OPTIONS. Pick one of the scenarios below. Your role is the manager in charge of an ambulatory surgery center (ASC). Restate the problem you are addressing. Make some logical assumptions. Make brief recommendations as to a reasonable solution to the problem in the scenario.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION: You will use an established independent ASC for either of the four scenarios listed below. Your presentation should be drafted as the administrator of the surgery center working to address one of the four scenarios. In your response, please be sure to address all components of the scenario.

1) One of the greatest challenges facing ASCs is maintaining and increasing volume. With all the external pressures, i.e. physicians pressured to become employees, mergers, decreasing payments from insurers, etc. – ASCs are challenged to keep physicians motivated to increase the number of cases and keep patients satisfied. What are some strategies you would use to increase referrals to your ASC while maintaining high patient satisfaction scores?

2) Another challenge facing ambulatory surgery centers is the recruitment of new physicians. Following a national trend, many local hospitals and health systems are purchasing physician practices, which could eventually lead to doctors referring surgical cases to a hospital’s same day surgery department. Assuming there is ample opportunity to increase surgical volume, how do you intend to recruit physicians to practice via your ASC? What are some strategies/offerings you could employ?

3) The ASC you are currently managing is experiencing out of network challenges. Additionally, the proposed reimbursement rates from payers do not match Medicare rates for your market. Most of your ASC contracts are based on the Medicare fee schedule and because many of your surgeries are not on that schedule, you have to negotiate a fee schedule on a case-by-case basis. What strategies could you employ as you work with payors to contract for reasonable rates that could save you both money in the short term?

4) In this changing environment, you are required to do more with less. Reimbursement rates are declining; supply and implant costs, taxes, utilities, rent, salaries and benefits and other operating costs are increasing and there are more regulatory requirements i.e., increased standards for accreditation (Joint Commission’s additional requirements as an example), ICD-10, adoption of an EHR, etc. Additionally, your staff is wearing multiple hats; many working to register, bill, code, schedule and assist with back house operations. What strategies and tools can you implement to increase productivity, reallocate resources and boost employee morale?

If you opened this Assignment in the Assignment Folder, the grading rubric for this assignment appears below. If you opened the Assignment in Content, the rubric can be opened by clicking on the ‘Assignment 4 Rubric’ tab in the lower right corner of the screen.

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Rubric Name: Asignment #4 Rubric

Response is above expectation and illustrates thought and critical thinking about the nature of the organization including: history, location, patient demographics, payer mix, hours of operation, service lines, ownership models, organizational structure, and other unique identifiers of the organization. Uses multiple sources not relying heavily on the organization website.

Provides an overview of the organization including organizational structure, history, present state, and identification of unique characteristics but does not illustrate market analysis areas. Illustrates some critical thinking and provides a comprehensive overview of the organization from multiple sources

Provides cursory information about the organization mostly taken from the firm’s own website or marketing materials. Has the minimum items such as dates, location, mission, and vision. Does not illustrate research or critical thinking looking beyond the surface characteristics of the organization. Does not illustrate market knowledge or application.

Provides limited information or no information about the organization. Does not illustrate a comprehensive overview or valid information about the organization. Information. Information may only be taken from the firm’s website.

Identifies the challenges facing the organization by presenting the scenario selected in a market specific application. The challenges are framed in context of the overall US health system and regional impacts that are identified through research such as competition, government programs, payment etc. There are scholarly references and regional data present.

Challenges for the organization are identified as broad in the context of the US health system but goes beyond restating the selected scenario. Supporting information about the why behind such challenges is relevant to the audience. Cites relevant sources

Identification of organizational challenges is a simple restatement or general statement of the selected scenario and does not address the presentation audience at a local level or connect to overall changes in the US health system. Response has a cursory nature and relies on general statements and broad contexts.

The presentation does not adequately identify the challenges or scenario selected. The response lacks cohesion and does not illustrate comprehension of the challenges or scenario. Response does not include relevant resources.

Presentation identifies a minimum of (3) solutions supported by literature and appropriate to the local market, audience, and in context of organizational specific context factors. Solutions are comprehensive and well developed avoiding vague or unsupported claims. Utilizes research and may be supported by popular literature.

The solutions identified (3 minimum) are appropriate for the audience and in context of the local market and US health system. The response includes specific factors however may have some vague or general statements. There is some research referencing popular and scholarly literature.

The response identifies solutions however they are cursory or commentary in nature. Solutions are presented as vague general statements that are not supported or well developed. Reliance on practical experience and personal opinion is apparent in the solution selection. The paper relies heavily on popular references or no references.

The presentation fails to identify solutions or adequate solutions. The argument is not supported with references and may be commentary / opinion based. The author does not illustrate an understanding of the US Health System or local market.

The presentation includes a significant reference to the external environment and changes including the ACA. References are timely and updated to illustrate current trends, requirements and external impacts on challenges and solutions. The presentation illustrates not only information but application of the environmental impact both positive and negative in nature producing a balanced representation. Superior presentations will address these in the context of the organization, market, problem statements, and solutions. References to scholarly literature and agency based statistics are present and support the overall argument.

An illustration of environmental impact is present in the presentation and may be applied in specific slides or sections. Use of data to support the role of external influence and ACA is timely and up to date. Appropriate application to the local market and context of the audience is present and addressed. Key points of ACA reform are appropriately selected. These points are applied to the case and not simply reported contributing to the presentation overall

ACA and environmental impact is present in the presentation. These are found to be listed and limited in their application to the case study, audience or market. There is use of outdated materials related to health reform and ACA. Factors are general in nature and do not contribute to the overall proposal of the presentation. Some factors may not be applicable to the environment or the problem statement. Limited references or no references are present.

The presentation provides inappropriate or no ACA or external environmental impact. If present the selection may be out of date, inappropriate or does not illustrate an understanding of the ACA or environmental changes on the Ambulatory care setting or case study. References are either inappropriate or missing from the presentation.

Writing is clear and free of grammatical errors, typos, and punctuation errors. The ppt. communicates clearly utilizing notes section and avoids overly narrative slides. Use of graphs, pictures and other media enhance the meaning communicating effectively. The presentation references in APA 6th edition format.

Writing is clear and has minimal grammatical, typographic or punctuation errors (no more than 3). The ppt. clearly communicates meaning and impact without utilizing excessive narratives or “to be read” slides. The references are in APA format 6th edition and there are no more than 3 APA errors. There is minimal use of graphs, pictures and media but contribute to the communication to the audience.

Writing in comprehensible but grammatical, typographical and punctuation errors interfere with the meaning of the content. There is a not a clear communication of concepts to the audience and / or excessive narrative slides in appropriate for executive communication. Media utilized detracts from meaning or does not enhance communication. There are more than 3 APA errors related to the paper or references.

Presentation has significant errors that interfere with the meaning. There is not an effective communication of concepts to the audience. APA format or references are missing or direct quotations are overly populated. Presentation is overly narrative or inappropriately vague for the intended audience.