Survey by FASA looks at recovery care
Some surprising findings
While most same-day surgery managers might think that their centers need to perform a high number of procedures per year to support a recovery care unit, that is not the case, says Kathy Bryant, JD, executive director of the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA) in Alexandria, VA.
"One of the most surprising findings of Recovery Care Survey 2000 was how many small ambulatory surgery centers had recovery care units," says Bryant. "Sixteen percent of the programs that had recovery care performed fewer than 1,000 procedures per year."
Data for benchmarking, advocacy efforts
The 2000 survey gathered data from 119 freestanding surgery centers that offer post-surgical recovery care of up to 72 hours. The questionnaire collected information that included average charges, nurse-to-patient ratios, lengths of stay, typical procedures, and ownership. The survey information will be used in two ways, according to Bryant.
"We will share the information with FASA members and other surgery center managers who can use it as a benchmarking tool," she says. If someone doesn’t yet offer recovery care, this survey can be a resource in the decision-making process, she adds.
"We will also use the information in advocacy efforts with groups such as MedPAC [Medicare Payment Advisory Committee in Washington, DC]," Bryant says. (See story on financial picture, p. 104.)
The 2000 survey shows that the average charge for recovery care is $566 per day compared to the average charge of $507 in FASA’s first recovery care survey in 1996. Orthopedic procedures account for the largest volume of recovery care (28.8%), with plastic surgery representing about 25% of recovery care procedures. (See box at left.)
| Recovery Care Surgical Mix | ||
| Procedure Types | 1995 | 1999 |
| Orthopedic | 35.9% | 28.8% |
| Plastic Surgery | 25.4% | 25.4% |
| General Surgery | 8.9% | 14.39% |
| ENT | 8.5% | 14.3% |
| Gynecology | 16.6% | 10.7% |
| Urology | 1.1% | 2% |
| Dental | 0.5% | 1.7% |
| Neurosurgery | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Other | 0.2% | 0.6% |
| Podiatry | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Ophthalmology | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| Pain Block | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| Gastroenterology | 1.1% | 0.01% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
General surgery and ear, nose, and throat procedures each represented less than 9% of recovery care cases in the 1996 survey, but they grew to more than 14% each in the 2000 survey.
Of the top five volume specialties in the 1996 survey, only gynecology dropped from 16.6% to 10.7% in the 2000 survey.
The specific procedures that most often led to recovery care are abdominoplasty, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, face lift, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and breast reduction.
One copy of the Recovery Care Survey 2000 is provided free to each member facility of the Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association (FASA). Other copies can be ordered at a cost of $50 for FASA members and $75 for nonmembers. To order, contact:
• FASA, 700 N. Fairfax St., Suite 306, Alexandria, VA 22314. Telephone: (703) 836-8808. Fax: (703) 549-0976. E-mail: [email protected].
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