sure or diabetes. It's possible that in 5 to 10 years large corporations
that are buying into health care may also want to start opening small
surgery centers, especially if the companies also own private insurers
and can push patients into the centers they own.
Despite these challenges, outpatient surgery will continue to expand
rapidly. CMS has been slow to adapt its payment policies to the grow-
ing interest in moving complex procedures to the ambulatory setting,
but employers and insurers will drive up case volumes by pushing
patients to seek quality and efficient surgical care at the best price
possible. If your facility already runs like a fine-tuned machine and
your surgeons are willing to push the boundaries of safe surgical care,
you're perfectly positioned to capitalize on the opportunity.
OSM
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 7
Dr. Kain (zkain@uci.edu) is a professor at the University of California Irvine
Health and an adjunct professor at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. He is
also president of the American College of Perioperative Medicine.
