Ambulatory surgery centers, also commonly referred to as ASCs, are healthcare facilities providing specialized ambulatory surgical services. Ambulatory Surgery Centers are also known as outpatient surgery centers or say-day surgery centers. Ambulatory Surgery Centers are held to the same standard as hospital outpatient surgery departments.

For the last decade in particular, ASCs have become the desired option for millions of people thanks to the fact that they act as a more convenient, cost effective alternative to hospital-based care.

Specialization & Quality

Thanks to their more intimate nature and more specific focus, ambulatory surgery centers are able to offer a wide range of different specialties depending on the facility you’re talking about. These include but are not limited to ones like:

None of this comes at the expense of the factor that matters most to so many people, however, which is quality. According to one recent study, ASCs aren’t just a more convenient option for procedures for a huge number of people – they may actually be safer, too. In 2010, approximately 4.84 out of every 1,000 patients who visited an ASC developed a surgical site infection (or SSI) that needed to be treated with inpatient care within 30 days after a procedure had taken place. During the same period of time, roughly 8.95 out of every 1,000 patients who had the same procedures done in a more traditional hospital environment had the same issues.

So not only are you receiving the same quality of care that you would from a hospital, procedures are getting done faster and in safer ways at the same time. This alone is often enough to convince most people that ambulatory surgery centers are the way to go.

Convenience

Another compelling argument to be made in favor of ambulatory surgery centers has to do with convenience – something that, by design, they were always intended to provide versus what more traditional hospital environments are capable of.

Thanks to the way that most ASCs are operated, physicians are in a better position to not only assemble more specific teams of highly qualified staff members, but can also guarantee the best equipment is available for each technique that is being offered. ASCs are often designed from the ground up to better fit the needs of their patients in a more intimate way, and as a result their physicians are also usually able to schedule procedures more conveniently, as well.

All of this means that in an ASC, physicians simply have more control over the atmosphere of their facility – and by association, the quality of care that they’re able to provide – versus those who work in a hospital. Remember that the first ASC was created all the way back in the 1970s to act as a higher quality, cost effective and more convenient alternative to traditional inpatient hospital care. As the last decade has gone a long way towards proving, those original founders of the concept have very much succeeded.

Cost Savings

For many, one of the most important benefits that an ambulatory surgery center brings with it is one of cost. Because ASCs receive far less of their total payments from sources like Medicare and Medicaid than your average hospital (61% for hospitals, versus just 37% from ASCs), they’re often seen as a far more cost effective solution for patients – particularly those who are having elective procedures done.

Why Choose Cornerstone Surgicare

Cornerstone Surgicare is a totally modern, state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center located right in the center of gorgeous Pensacola, Florida. It offers a contemporary style and a comfortable, professional atmosphere – making it an ideal choice for patients of all ages all over Escambia County, Florida and the surrounding areas.

Cornerstone Surgicare is operated by a team of compassionate physicians, all of whom specialize in bringing innovative care to people in the area on a daily basis. Cornerstone Surgicare is one of the only ASC in the Southeast to use the Mazor Renaissance Robot, for example, which itself represents a significant breakthrough in terms of minimally invasive spinal procedures.

Cornerstone Surgicare licensed by the State of Florida, certified by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and is an AAAHC accredited facility, which means that it has proven that it meets or exceeds the standards dictated by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care in terms of performance, their consultation and education services and much more.

If you’d like to find out more information about some of the major benefits that you can only get from an ambulatory surgery center, or if you’d like to learn more about the many different procedures that are available, please don’t delay – contact Cornerstone Surgicare today.

For much of history up to this point, surgical procedures of all types were performed in the same basic location: at a hospital. The first Ambulatory Surgery Centers opened in the early 1970s and within the last ten years, however, there has been a dramatic spike in the number of patients choosing ambulatory surgery center for procedures performed in an outpatient environment.

This is a trend that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and with good reason: receiving surgery at an ambulatory surgical center instead of a hospital brings with it a number of unique advantages that cannot be ignored.

The Cost Factor

One of the major benefits ambulatory surgical centers provide is cost effectiveness. These types of facilities simply receive less of their total payments from sources like Medicare and Medicaid than the average hospital does. According to one study, about 37% of total payments come from Medicare and Medicaid in an ASC, versus about 61% for your average hospital.

This means that not only are ASCs able to provide better access to lower-priced procedures, but they also have a lower cost structure in general.

Another study from Orthopedic Reviews estimated that in 2016 alone, the average cost savings from having a procedure done in an ASC was between 17.6% to 57.6%, compared to having the exact same procedure done in a hospital environment. When you consider that you’re receiving care that is just as good and has just as many long-term benefits in an ASC and in a hospital, the cost factor alone is enough to convince most people that this is the right move to make.

A Matter of Convenience

Another one of the major benefits of having surgery performed at an ASC versus a more traditional hospital environment can be summed up in one simple word: convenience. This is not to say that ASCs are “lower stakes” or “slower paced” environments, it’s just that by their nature they have the ability to focus on a wider range of procedures in a far more effective and personal way.

In a traditional ASC environment, physicians are in a much better position to not only schedule procedures in a way that is more convenient for patients, but also assemble teams of highly qualified staff members, guarantee that all the best equipment and all the latest techniques are being used, and can even design their facilities to meet the needs of the socialites they have chosen to serve – rather than in the “one size fits all” approach that most hospitals are forced to take.

Remember that part of the reason why the first ASC was established in the United States in the first place was because physicians were looking for a high quality, low cost alternative to inpatient hospital care. For the last decade, the industry has proven over and over again that they were able to find it.

A Cleaner and Safer Alternative

Finally, another one of the most critical benefits of receiving surgery outside of a hospital setting has to do with the cleanliness and safety of ASCs. According to one study that was recently conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 approximately 8.95 out of 1,000 patients developed some type of surgical site infection in a hospital. When you break that number down into ASC patients, however, that number drops to just 4.84 out of every 1,000 patients.

A large part of this has to do with the fact that ambulatory surgical centers are traditionally smaller than hospitals, which means that staff and other administrators simply have far better control over their environment. Within the context of this discussion, both numbers are quite low. But if you were worried about whether you would develop an SSI that required some type of inpatient treatment within 30 days after receiving your surgery procedure, the fact that the likelihood is literally cut in half in an ambulatory surgical center is obviously worth considering when making your decision.