Infection preventionist and medication safety experts spoke with TASCS members about the dangers of negligent injection practices and tips for safe injection practices.

Safe injection practices are a significant part of keeping patients safe, as they help prevent the spread of diseases, miscommunication in drug doses and the contamination of medications. “The primary objective in injection safety is preventing transmission of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency viruses,” Maggie Miller, an infection preventionist with ECRI, told Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) members during a recent virtual town hall. She also spoke to the more general significance and procedural standards for injection safety.

Cosentus associates talk about financial and technological changes that will begin in the new calendar year and how they will affect surgery centers.

Ambulatory Surgery Centers prepare for another cold season with this look back on lessons learned from Winter Storm Uri 2021. 

In August, Catherine Kane, clinical specialist at Pall Corporation, spoke to TASCS members about the dangers of surgical smoke in the operating room and how to deal with this hazard in surgery centers.

“Each year, an estimated 500,000 workers, including surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and surgical technologists, are exposed to laser or electrosurgical smoke,” Kane said, citing OSHA.

How important is an ASC administrator? For many surgery centers, they essentially fill the role of CEO. And depending upon the ASC, they could be the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company.

That's why it is imperative that the selection of an administrator is a decision that a center's management should not take lightly. The right administrator can help an ASC maximize its potential, delivering great care and outcomes for patients and a strong return on investment for owners. The wrong administrator can cause an ASC to struggle or even fail.

On July 22, Maryalice StClair, the chief commercial officer with Halosil International, spoke to TASCS members about eliminating pathogens in healthcare facilities. During her presentation, she explained the importance of having a simple and affordable solution at ambulatory surgery centers.

Halosil International was established in 2008, with a line of products that help decrease healthcare-associated infections. The company prides itself on having superior disinfection solutions that achieve a 6-log kill, meaning they are extremely effective at killing pathogens and reducing the risk of spread — even more so than competing technology, such as UV lights or electrostatic sprayers.

On August 19, three Modernizing Medicine associates spoke to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members about implicit bias in the healthcare system and how healthcare providers can work to narrow these inequities.

Julie Servoss, senior medical director of gastroenterology, Tacoma Perry, a medical consultant, and Michael Rivers, director of ophthalmology, began the conversation by contextualizing health inequities in the United States. Servoss talked about several areas of noticeable discrimination, including infant mortality rate and age-adjusted mortality rate. 

ImageFIRST Provides The Healthcare Industry With Laundering (& So Much More) 

Robert Marinich is the head of sales at HST Pathways and has been working there for almost 10 years. During this time, he has fallen in love with the job and feels blessed to wake up every day, getting to help the healthcare industry with efficiency, cost-savings and so much more. “We care less about the politics and more about the client,” Marinich said. “And this client-first mentality is key to success.”

HST Pathways offers technological solutions and innovations for ambulatory surgery centers through several programs: case coordination, practice management and electronic health records. These programs work in tandem to create the ultimate experience for patient caregivers, and these three services bundled together computerize every step of the process to make for a more efficient facility that allows caregivers to spend more time with the patients and less time charting.

On June 24, Laura Schneider, the senior clinical director at AMSURG, explained some key issues and tips for running drills in ambulatory surgery centers. With over 40 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Schneider has dealt with most situations for which these drills are built to help staff be ready.

One of the biggest differences between hospitals and surgery centers is the amount of resources they have, so when ASCs are preparing for potential emergencies, it’s important that they allocate their resources and staff effectively. “There’s not always extra people around, so you’ve got to use your resources wisely,” Schneider said. “You want to make sure you’re prepared.”

On June 10, Bob Marinich, head of sales for HST Pathways, talked to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members about implementing electronic health records successfully in their surgery centers.

In the past, EHRs received a bad name because they were slow and hard to use, Marinich said. They were designed by programmers rather than the people who would be using them. Today, though, EHRs are significantly better, due to technological advancements and an increasing understanding of healthcare needs. Still, less than 10% of ASCs are utilizing EHRs. This is in part due to their poor history but also because these programs are not subsidized and have no CMS guidelines.  

It is the 25th anniversary of National Safety Month. Since 1996, the National Safety Council has brought awareness to safety issues and encouraged everyone to help others stay safe, whether it be at the workplace or anywhere else.

This year holds special value to the safety of the nation, because our country only recently started to recover from a pandemic that devastated all aspects of our lives and flipped the medical industry on its head, as everyone struggled to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. Centers were shut down, people were overworked, and supplies were constantly in shortage.

The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society has a new board member: Jeff Blankinship!

On May 13, Dr. David Shapiro, an officer for the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), spoke to Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members about the survey process and steps ASCs can take in preparation for their surveys.

When it comes to AAAHC’s approach, Shapiro explained the surveyors work to be consultants with facility staff and collaborate with them to ensure they become accredited and are able to keep that status. “A lot of our standards are very open-ended,” he said. “We ask you to define things.” For example, pediatrics could mean something different for every center, and some centers might not even have pediatric departments, so it’s up to the facility to define what they have and what the cut-offs are for their departments.

In April, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission answered some questions from the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society about survey updates, rule changes and other helpful resources for ASCs.

As it pertains to surveys, HHSC is not authorized to do any virtual surveys at this time, and in-person visits are expected to meet the established expectations for infection control. All visits for surveys are addressed on a case-by-case basis. When it comes to the top survey citation since COVID, the staff expressed that surveyors have a special focus on infection control practices throughout all CMS-certified providers.

3 Ways Outsourcing the Sterile Processing Department Will Keep Your Total Joints Program Ahead of ASC Trends

At one time it might have been surprising to find out that an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) functioned without an in-house Sterile Processing Department (SPD). Today, it's common to see centers survive and even thrive without them.

Membership Monday: Digestive Health Center of Allen

On March 4, Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society members attended a virtual town hall, in order to learn best practices on proper incident reporting to Texas Health and Human Services.  

Laura Schneider  RN, Sr. Director of Clinical Services for Amsurg, began by reviewing the requirements of ASC Incident Reporting:

5 Tips For Patient Safety Awareness Week 

Patient Safety Awareness Week encourages people to learn more about healthcare safety, and this year, it takes place March 14–20, 2021. This topic can include the reporting, prevention and reduction of issues that harm patients and others in medical settings.

ASC Accreditation During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society provides members with information and education through bi-weekly virtual town halls. On February 11, members learned what to expect in regards to surveys for accreditation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.