AMSURG’s process improvement team recently led a Kaizen event aimed at improving turnover times at a Maryland center. Ninety days after the collaborative event, the sustained improvement was a 33 percent reduction in room turnover time, from 15 to 10 minutes between patients.

Certified Kaizen facilitator, David Mayer, led the two-day Kaizen event and the team consisted of AMSURG corporate staff as well as the center’s clinical and operational staff. Collaboratively, they identified opportunities for improvement in all areas of center operation, including pre-op, anesthesia, patient consent, procedure specimen/report input, GI Tech tasks and PACU. During the event, the team implemented 12 key changes through best practice standardization, creative problem solving and visual management tools.

AMSURG’s process improvement team specializes in eliminating duplication and reducing non-value added elements of key operational processes, allowing ASCs to run more safely and efficiently. To learn more about a partnership with AMSURG, contact us.

AMSURG participated in Health:Further 2016 on August 23-24 in Nashville as a sponsor of the conference’s Provider Track, including an introduction from AMSURG’s President of Ambulatory Services, Phillip Clendenin and a presentation from Chief Quality Officer for Physician Services Gerald A. Maccioli, M.D. Dr. Maccioli discussed the implications of the Medicare Authorization and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA) for physicians. Created by JumpStart Foundry, Health:Further brings healthcare entrepreneurs and investors together in an effort to build partnerships that innovate the future of the rapidly-changing healthcare market. With its combination of keynotes, panels and tech startup showcases, Health:Further provides opportunities to “further the dialogue on innovation in [the healthcare] industry.” The “Volume to Value” revolution is one such opportunity for innovation. Dr. Maccioli’s Provider Track presentation explored the complexities of MACRA and the unique opportunities and challenges providers face in the shift from volume-based fee-for-service payments to value-based payments spawned by this legislation. MACRA seeks to empower doctors and reduce the administrative burden by allowing physicians and practitioners to be rewarded for providing excellent care at lower costs. “If physicians are asked to co-lead in the volume-to-value revolution, it will succeed; if not, it will fail,” commented Dr. Maccioli while discussing the unique partnership opportunities physicians face in this healthcare shift. AMSURG’s Chief Information Officer Eric Thrailkill along with Kimberly Franks, vice president, information technology, and Dave Killean, division vice president, operations, are working with Jumpstart Foundry to gain access to innovation opportunities at AMSURG. With the help of JumpStart, Thrailkill and his team have met with 16 startups focused on driving healthcare solutions. “There are over 7,000 digital health IT start-ups today…far too many to vet in a rapidly changing environment,” Thrailkill said. “We have defined innovation ‘buckets’ of interest at AMSURG focusing on care delivery models, efficiency models and patient engagement initiatives.” Three of these startups: GreenlightMedical, Calibrater Health and Beckoncall have visited AMSURG to explore new growth opportunities in digital health.