Over 100 people attended our latest summer meeting in Dallas yesterday.  Thanks to Vicki Schultz of Texas Health Women’s Specialty Surgery Center of Dallas for providing us with the location.

Robert McDavitt led our anesthesia panel of Dr. Andre Dobson, Dr. Pam McCroskey, Dr. Jack Chapman, and Rob Ross.

In addition, Congressman Pete Sessions offered us his latest thoughts on Washington, DC and what we should expect with the November elections.

FUTURE Health Insurance – A look at the future state health insurance exchange and employer health insurance mandates.

As both providers and employers, ASCs and physicians are asking a lot of questions about what the new state health insurance exchanges and employer mandates will mean for them when it comes to health insurance.  Will the new state health insurance exchange result in lower reimbursement rates?  Will ASCs and physicians face more mandates as employers offering health insurance?

We’ll take a look at these questions at tomorrow’s Summer Summit in Dallas.

TASCS ACOs and Progressive Payment Models (Click Here to Download)

The health care world has been bombarded by talk of accountable care organizations (ACOs). We’ll take a look at what ACOs and other new payment models mean for ASCs.

While the new federal health care law calls for limited ACOs in Medicare, the 2011 Texas Legislature could go much further with ACOs for certain state employee populations and specific segments of the Medicaid system.

The next TASCS Newsletter Update will examine:

• The new state health insurance exchange that begins in 2014.  As both providers and employers, ASCs and physicians have a lot to consider with this new health insurance entity. We’ll dedicate the lunch period at next week’s Summer Summit to learning more about what this means for ASCs.

• Durr Boyles looks at cyber liability and what it means from an insurance perspective.

• A number of Texas ASCs are looking for inventory control consultants. In addition, TASCS is seeking one to speak at our Annual Conference in Houston.

• Nine Texas ASCs have terminated their Medicare participation since January 2009.  TASCS and the ASC Advocacy Committee are considering these moves in regards to the ASC industry’s comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the 2011 proposed rule.

The Texas ASC Society and the ASC Advocacy Committee will send recommendations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about new Medicare codes that should be added to the ASC setting. We need your input.

Please take a look at this spreadsheet and fill it out to the best of your ability: 072810 PROCEDURE LIST DATA REQUEST (BLANK)

The file has three tabs for you to complete. It asks for information on procedures proposed for addition to the ASC list, unlisted procedures that you perform on non-Medicare patients, and other procedures you would like added to the ASC list. Please return it to me via e-mail by COB Monday, August 9th.

This week we’ll cover:

• Quality indicators featured by commercial insurance plans.
• Texas ASCs were featured by a Dallas-Fort Worth tv station last week.
• An early look at how the new state health insurance exchanges could result in a smaller network of providers.

The 2010 Summer Summit is less than a month away, and the early registration discount ends this week.

We’re looking forward to learning about how the new federal law will impact Texas ASCs. Congressman Pete Sessions, the National Republican Congressional Committee chair, will give us a preview of what to expect in the upcoming elections and what this means for Congress.

Shawn Friesen, a government affairs expert for the American College of Surgeons, will talk about what the new federal health care reform bill means for surgery.

At the state level, the Department of State Health Services will discuss what the January 1, 2011 heatlhcare-associated infections (HAI) reporting will mean for ASCs. To date, only a handful of ASCs across the country currently report HAI data to the CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). It is expected that all Texas ASCs will have to report to NHSN beginning in 2011.

A great panel led by Robert McDavitt will take a look at all of the anesthesia models utilized by Texas ASCs. The panel members include: Rob Ross (CRNA with Pinnacle Anesthesia), Dr. Jack Chapman (Houston anesthesiologist), Dr. Pam McCroskey (The Joint Commission and an anesthesiologist), and Dr. Andre Dobson (National Medical Director for Anesthesia Healthcare Partners) will serve on the panel.

More information can be found on our Web site.