Subscriptions

Advertising

Resources

About Us

Contact Us

Create An Account Forgot Your Password?
Trouble logging in or creating an account? click here
Home This Month E-Weekly Newsletter Building a Facility Article Archive Second Opinions
Search:
Benchmarking
General Surgery
Accrediting/Quality
Anesthesia
Code/Bill/Reimburse
Building/Renovating
Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

News & Notes

Tip of the week Are red-bag wastes, sharps, recyclables and unshredded sensitive paperwork routinely ending up in your regular trash bins? Line those ...

InstaPoll: Do You Check Your Work E-Mail on Vacation?

Be honest: When you're on vacation, do you feel compelled to check your work e-mail 2 or 3 or 4 times a day? Or do you manage to leave it all behind...

N.Y. Hepatitis Outbreaks Linked to Propofol Reuse

An investigation into a pair of hepatitis outbreaks in New York City has revealed that the same anesthesiologist was responsible for spreading 6 cas...

Archive >  Surgical Construction 2005

Anatomy of a Turnaround

Doing everything wrong and teetering on the brink of financial ruin, this surgery center is now pointed in the right direction.

Brent Lambert, MD

When we stepped in to save Brookside Surgery Center from a financial mess, the center was losing $300,000 a year after five profitless years. In our view, virtually every operational piece of this three-OR, multi-specialty ASC in Battle Creek, Mich., was broken:

  • Some physician-partners weren't even working at their own center;
  • the ORs were overstaffed and underscheduled; and
  • billing, supply-buying and contracting were dysfunctional.
Categories: Building/Renovating, Business Management
Keywords:
Inefficiencies across the board; Turning it around; They said yes right away.; Compressed staff and schedule; Accounts payable and receivable; Streamlined supplies; Refinancing and payer contracting; Writing checks vs. cashing them; ASC; ASCs; ASCs. Turning; Accounts; Ambulatory Surgical Centers; April; August; Billing; Blue Cross Blue Shield, United HealthCare; Blue Shield, United HealthCare; Brookside; Brookside Surgery Center; Cashing Them When; Center; Changing; Checks; Cross Blue Shield, United HealthCare; Fixing; Fortunes It's; GPO. The; GPOs; He'd; HealthCare; High; Hospitals; Hundreds;... show all keywords
Inefficiencies across the board; Turning it around; They said yes right away.; Compressed staff and schedule; Accounts payable and receivable; Streamlined supplies; Refinancing and payer contracting; Writing checks vs. cashing them; ASC; ASCs; ASCs. Turning; Accounts; Ambulatory Surgical Centers; April; August; Billing; Blue Cross Blue Shield, United HealthCare; Blue Shield, United HealthCare; Brookside; Brookside Surgery Center; Cashing Them When; Center; Changing; Checks; Cross Blue Shield, United HealthCare; Fixing; Fortunes It's; GPO. The; GPOs; He'd; HealthCare; High; Hospitals; Hundreds; Inefficiencies; Lack; March; Monday-morning; ORs; Poor; Shield, United HealthCare; Signs; Staffing; Staggering; Surgery Center; Surgical Centers; Them When; United HealthCare; Writing; Writing Checks; accepted; accommodate; account; accounted; accounts; adding; advantage; aggressive; agreements; ahead; allotted; allowed; ambulatory; amortized; ample; analyzed; anxiety; arranging; asked; aspect; ate; attention; authority; avalanche; average; avoid; back; bad; badly; balance; ball; bankruptcy; based; beat; before-and-after; began; bidder; big; bill; block; boost; bottom; boxes; breaks; bringing; broad; broke; broker; buoy; buried; business; buy; buying; calculations; called; capital; careful; carry; carrying; case; cash; cashing; center; centers; cents; chance; change; check; china; chit-chat; chose; claims; coffee; collecting; collections; coming; commit; company; compared; compressed; compressing; consult; contacted; contracting; contracts; controlling; cosmetic; cost; costing; costs; creating; crucial; cut; days; dead; debt; decided; decreased; desirable; detail; determine; develop; discounts; discussions; dividend; docs; dollars; doubled; dramatically; drinking; drop; dropping; easier; easy; efficient; efficiently; effort; element; employees; end; equipment; equity; establish; exceptions; explain; extended; extra; facility; factors; factory; failing; faster; fed; fee; fell; file; financial; financing; find; fine; fixing; flexible; floating; follow; formidable; found; four-and-a-half; fraction; full; full-scale; full-time; fully; fundamentally; gap; give; goal; good; group; guess; gummed; half; helps; high; hospitals; hour; hurting; idea; important; improve; improved; including; income; increased; industry; initial; inspected; insurance; interest; interest-only; interested; inventory; investment; involves; job; key; kind; knew; large; leaving; left; less-forgiving; lifeblood; list; loans; locked; long; long-term; lose; losing; losses; lot; lowest; made; major; make; making; manager; meaning; means; medical; met; million; minutes; models; money; money-losing; money-making; month; morale; move; multi-specialty; needed; negative; negotiate; negotiators; number; offer; offices; one-third; open; operate; operating; operation; operational; opportunity; optimistic; optimize; originally; outstanding; overstaffed; overtime; owns; pack; paid; part; part-time; participate; partners; patient's; pattern; pay; payable; payer; paying; payments; payroll; people; percent; performing; perpetual; phaco; phoned; physician; physician-owners; physician-partners; physicians; picked; piece; pill; pitch; place; plastic; positive; practices; problem; problems; procedures; process; produce; producing; products; profit; profitless; proper; providing; purchasing; put; putting; rate; re-organize; receipts; receivable; reduced; refinancing; regular; related; relocated; replaced; require; requirements; rescued; resignations; resolves; resubmit; result; retool; reverse; rigorous; rocket; rolling; rose; routinely; run; safe; salaries; sat; save; saving; schedule; scheduler; scheduling; scientist; self-insure; sell; send; sense; service; seven-minute; sheen; shelves; short; short-term; show; showed; sit; sitting; situation; slot; solidly; solving; sooner; specific; spend; spending; sponges; spot; stabilize; staff; staffers; staffing; stake; start; started; stepped; stress; successful; suited; supplies; supply; supply-buying; surgeon; surgeon-investors; surgeons; surgery; surgical; suspicion; synergy; system; takes; taking; talking; target; teach; terms; test; textbook; thing; things; thousands; time; times; told; toll; tools; top; toted; tough; track; tracked; train; training; turn; turnaround; turned; two-and-a-half; type; unfavorable; unused; valuable; virtually; wait; walk; wanted; warning; ways; week; weigh; who'll; wit's; work; working; worry; worth; writing; wrong; year; years
Already have an account? Please sign in:
Email Address:
Password:
Outpatient Surgery Magazine's Facilities on Parade
Other Articles That May Interest You
Survey: Hospitals See Government Reforms as "Mixed Blessing"
Hospital execs and OR managers plan to cut perioperative costs to ensure success.
Texas Court Strikes Down Surgeons' Non-Compete Covenant
The contract didn't accommodate buyouts, says ruling.
Staffing
Dealing With Disruptive Docs