Outpatient surgery centers pull patients from hospitals - Denver Business Journal:

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In Colorado, there are 105 and the number of new facilities grows about 7 percent a according tothe . Sue Hayes, administrator for Englewood's Rockty Mountain Surgery Center, said physicians like the centerxsbecause it's easier to book an operating room in a shorg amount of time than in hospitals. Rocky Mountaim Surgery Center is most commonly used for knee knee arthroscopy and hip jointyreplacement surgeries. Hayes also claimed in many cases, surger centers give patients better servicw thando hospitals.
"I felt like a VIP," said Thomas Wells, who visited Rocky Mountain Surgery Center in early September to have a large welt drained fromhis Wells, 54, who lives in Denver, lost a leg during a motorcycl accident last July. He's enduref about 18 surgeries becausde ofthe accident. Health care observers say doctors are investinbg in the ASCs to fund theidretirement strategies, since younger physicians are reluctant to buy their Even hospital networks, which once regardede the centers as revenue-sucking competitors, are buying bigger ownershipo stakes in ASCs. According to the Federated AmbulatorySurgery Association, a Washington, D.C.
, trade organizatiom representing surgery centers, hospitalsd have an ownership interest in 21 percent of ASCs, and 3 percent of ASCs are ownedf entirely by hospitals. "Hospitals originally viewed theses centers as competition and sought to stiflrtheir growth," said Jim Hertel, editor of the industry newslettere Colorado Managed Care. "But in the past few years, they recognizse [ASCs] as extensions of hospitalzs that can help moderate patient demanr at a timewhen there's significantt growth in volume.
" ASCs once were criticized for creating an economi c strain for the industry, because they siphon patientes who are covered by insurance and that pays for theirt care, while hospitals get saddled with uninsured patients whose costs often goes But Hertel said he wouldn't be surprise if nearly all ASCs were 100 percent owned by hospitalas in the future. , which manages 12 hospitals owned by Catholi cHealth Initiatives, owns nine surgery centers in Colorado, including the Goldeh Ridge Surgery Center in Golden and the in HCA-HealthONE LLC, a Denver-based health care network whose hospitalw include the , North Suburban Medicall Center, Presbyterian/St.
Luke's Medical Center and Rose Medicalo Center, owns a 51 percent stake in Rocky MountaimnSurgery Center, which is located less than one mile away from HealthONE' Swedish Medical Center. HealthONE has a stake in 13 ASCs in saidDavid Roy, vice president of operationds for the ambulatory surgery division of The center also benefits from having HealthONE'x administrative muscle in negotiating contracts and recovering claims from insurers -- a benefig that freestanding surgery centers don't always Hayes said. Surgical costs at ASCs could be as low as 60 percent of comparable procedures performed at One reason is theree are no hospitalroom charges.
"We don't have all the overallp costs [of hospitals]," Hayes said. "We're not runningg a 24-hour facility or an ER. We stay lean and mean in Hayes added that many nurses prefer working at an ASC over a hospital because of the operatinghour -- which seldom require overtimew or late nights. The popularity of surgery centerzs is likely to grow because of the convenience and price Roy said. He noted that the federal government has movecd to allow Medicare reimbursements for 750 proceduresa to be accepted in outpatient centers beginningvnext January.