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T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 1
E
arly this year, one of the first total hip
replacements paid for by Medicare was per-
formed on a woman in her late 80s at our
outpatient surgery center. This was only possible
because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) moved outpatient total hips to the
ASC-approved procedure list for 2021. She was
healthy but, because of her age, we made sure we
got her in early in the day in case she needed more
recovery time before we could safely send her
home. The operation was a success and she's now
living a more active and pain-free life.
We expect CMS's policy shift to let our surgeons
replace the hips of about 200 other patients this
year, about the same number of Medicare-funded
total knees we did in 2020 when CMS added that
procedure to the ASC-approved list. The migration
of these procedures from inpatient hospitals to the
outpatient arena benefits a segment of the popula-
tion in our community who are in pain, a population
our physicians are committed to serving. Surgery
centers need to grow in order to sustain themselves
long-term, so access to a new group of patients has
been a welcome development.
Steady increase
We've proceeded with caution, knowing that more
volume does not automatically equate to more prof-
CMS Adds Total Hips to ASC-approved List
Medicare cases highlight the importance of cost-effective care.
Regulatory Affairs
Darci Nagorski
BOOM OR BUST Finding the sweet spot between profits and proper patient care will determine if Medicare-funded hips will benefit your center.
