9 7
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
scrambling to develop devices that preserve the spine segment
and are durable, and we've turned down those we feel just aren't
there yet, those in which the complication rates are too high in
clinical studies or those the company wants us to use in an off-
label manner.
N E U R O S U R G E R Y
3. Costs.
Educate staff and surgeons on the cost of equipment, supplies
and implants. Surgeons should make their own decisions, but you can
influence them by telling them what's cost-effective. You can also use
them to negotiate. If suppliers say, "You've done only 4 of those surger-
ies in the last year," I say, "Yes, but my surgeon did 50 at the local hos-
pital. What should I tell them about how much you're willing to negoti-
ate?" It works. With implants, I pre-negotiate everything. Often we can
get no-charge trials.
4
.
Billing
. Your coders must be very familiar with spine surgery so they
don't leave anything on the table, either with out-of-network or in-net-
work cases. That's the biggest challenge we've had. Cases have
become more complex and insurers haven't always done their due
diligence, so it's often challenging to get cases authorized, especially
out-of-network. You need to prove your quality and success rate. And
don't sign a low-rate contract.
5. Patients
. You need to educate both them and their families, so when
they're discharged, they know how to care for themselves. To gain
their trust, you also need to be organized and efficient — patients and
their families need to understand what makes your facility special. If
your patient satisfaction scores are exceptional, make people aware
of that important selling point.
— Karen Reiter, RN, CNOR, RNFA
Ms. Reiter (
k reiter@discmdg roup.com
) is the chief operating officer
of the Diagnostic and Interventional Surgical Center in Marina del
Rey, Calif.
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