TASCS’s Response to JAMA ASC Infection Control Procedure Article
Delivering safe, high-quality and efficient health care to Texans is the greatest priority of the nearly 400 ASCs in Texas. ASCs have revolutionized the way that health care is delivered in Texas. From children to seniors, Texas ASCs perform thousands of surgeries, surgical procedures, and diagnostic services that only a few decades ago were only performed in a hospital and sometimes led to a lengthy hospital stay.
Numerous studies have found that ASCs have extremely low complications and infections related to surgeries and procedures performed in the ASC setting. Texas ASCs are looking forward to displaying their incredible safety and quality through upcoming reporting measures that include the Medicare quality reporting and healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data reporting in the state of Texas.
Unfortunately, this month's issue of Journal of the American Medical Association published an article that calls into question the infection control practices of ASCs. The article is based on a 2008 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pilot study that focused on ASCs in Maryland, North Carolina and Oklahoma. It does not analyze Texas ASCs.
The article only examined process failures. It did not follow the patient's entire experience and examine whether or not a patient developed an infection in the ASC setting. The infection control practices at the highlighted ASCs have been addressed by the new ASC Medicare Conditions for Coverage and the industry.
Texas ASC Society Infection Control Initiatives
TASCS has placed a strong emphasis on infection control initiatives with public policy makers, industry initiatives and conferences. We believe that the recent infection control initiatives put into place by CMS and the industry will strengthen the already very safe ASC environment.
In particular, the 2009 Medicare Conditions for Coverage resulted in TASCS placing a strong emphasis on educating its membership about infection control initiatives.
TASCS's infection control efforts include:
- TASCS's 2009 Summer Summit focused on the new Medicare Conditions for Coverage and the implications for infection control training. CMS's policy lead for the NLTC Certification & Enforcement Branch/Division of Survey and Certification in Dallas, Dodjie B. Guioa,appeared at both the 2009 Summer Summit and 2009 Annual Conference to give Texas ASCs a preview of what the CMS pilot project would hold.
- TASCS provided infection control training at both the 2009 conferences. This was provided by AORN. Similar infection control training will be offered at the 2010 Annual Conference in November.
- Representatives from AAAHC and The Joint Commission discussed infection control and the new Medicare Conditions for Coverage at both 2009 conferences. They will be present at our 2010 conferences to discuss these issues.
- APIC is holding two conferences specific for ASC infection control training. The July event will be held in July while the September event will be in Baltimore.
- State officials from the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) spoke at our 2010 February State of the State Conference to hold an open discussion with the Texas ASC industry about how the potential January 2011 HAI reporting could impact ASCs and how to make it benefit patient safety. In addition, the DSHS officials will be joining us at our upcoming conferences to discuss how ASCs will report the quality data.
- TASCS's lobbyist, Jaime Capelo, and the TASCS Legislative Committee are educating state officials about the high-quality services that ASCs are delivering to Texas patients.
- TASCS is in discussions with the ASC Quality Collaboration about a plan for Texas ASCs to report quality and safety data to the ASC Quality Collaboration. In return, ASCs could use this data for benchmarking. In addition, TASCS could share the aggregate data with policymakers. This is a great way to highlight Texas ASCs.
About TASCS
The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) is the state organization that represents and serves the nearly 400 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in Texas. TASCS provides support and advocacy services to Texas ASCs. TASCS was founded in 2003.