This World Health Day, What Are You Doing To Build A Fairer, Healthier World?
By TASCS Board Member James McClung, Chief Development Officer of Reliant Medical Services

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.

In order to provide members with information and education, even in the midst of a pandemic, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) has been holding virtual town halls. The latest one took place on Jan. 28 and was about controlled medication logs in ambulatory surgery centers.

It was a focused, brief, yet very informative symposium from two of Texas’ top experts on the topic, Diane Buffington of Surgical Care Affiliates and Chris Dembny of Dembny Pharmacy Consultants LLC.

5 Physicians Endoscopy Partner Centers Receive APEX Quality Award

JAMISON, Pa., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Five Physicians Endoscopy partner ambulatory surgery centers have received the 2020 National APEX Quality Award. The Endoscopy Center of Niagara, Laredo Digestive Health Center, Long Island Center for Digestive Health, PGC Center for Excellence, and South Broward Endoscopy Center were recognized as the highest performing healthcare facilities within their healthcare peer grouping. Awarded annually by SPH Analytics, recipients of the APEX Quality Award are determined solely by patient satisfaction measures. APEX, traditionally meaning highest point, is defined by SPH Analytics as "Attributes for Patient Excellence".

Texas announces COVID-19 vaccine allocation for week of Jan. 25

The state of Texas will receive 332,750 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government next week. The Texas Department of State Health Services has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship those doses to 212 providers across Texas. That includes 82 hub providers that will focus on larger community vaccination efforts and 130 additional providers as Texas continues to vaccinate health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities, people 65 and older and those with medical conditions that put them at greater risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

GL 20-2020-A Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Services and Reporting Requirements in Response to COVID-19 Amended

GL 20-2020-A, regarding the extension of emergency rule amendments related to ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services and reporting requirements in response to COVID-19, has been posted. Effective January 21, 2021, the emergency rule amendments are extended for 60 days and temporarily permit licensed ASCs to do the following:

• expand treatment options to include other health care services, not surgical services alone;
• allow for patient stays longer than 23 hours; and
• not report longer patient stays and hospital transfers.

Please read the letter and if you have questions, contact [email protected].

2021 Payment Rules Affecting Pharmacy

As we move into the new outpatient/ambulatory payment year still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, navigating payment rules across sites of care and ensuring that pharmacy is in sync with their organization’s overall strategies are essential. Themes finalized in the rule sets are: embrace patient centricity, continue to simplify (electronic health record requirements and reporting, regulations), cut costs and save money, and not lose focus on pharmacy’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

2021 OPPS Effects