BLOG: Surgeon benefits of office-based cataract surgery
Driven by increasing cost and medical innovation, many surgeries are now done in multispecialty ASCs rather than hospitals.
At the same time, the aging population is increasingly looking to surgeries to manage their health problems. Therefore, many cataract surgeons are now considering building out their own office-based surgery (OBS) suites to save on cost and increase flexibility. I foresee that in the next 10 years, a significant portion of cataract surgeries will take place in specialized in-office suites for the following reasons.
More flexible scheduling
With ASCs, each surgeon is restricted to half-day blocks during which they must fit in their surgeries, whereas OBS provides the flexibility to schedule surgeries at any time, including the same day.
Better economics
Being able to schedule more surgeries generates more profit without increasing fixed cost. If you are on an ASC block time where all the other blocks are occupied, you may not be able to do more surgeries when demands increase.
For example, in some locations, such as Florida, the demand for cataract surgeries increases with the presence of snowbirds in the winter. With OBS, you have the flexibility to schedule more surgeries during these months. You can also perform more surgeries before and after vacations or conference trips, which would not otherwise be possible with a shared arrangement.
Improved convenience and comfort
With off-site ASCs, your staff needs to travel to the surgical center ahead of time to ensure that the patient is properly checked in and prepared for the surgery before you arrive. With OBS, the patients will already be familiar with your office and staff. You, your staff and your patients don’t need to travel to the ASC location or transport medical records. Being able to control the environment also allows you to further personalize their care and improve their comfort.
Surgeon’s choice of instruments, supplies and staff
With OBS, you can have your choice of surgical beds, stools, phaco machines, and other instruments and supplies. For example, you can choose the patient bed and stool that you are most comfortable with. You will also be working with your own staff, whom you hire and are familiar with. However, for ASCs, choosing your own instruments, supplies and staff may not be an option. The cost savings and simplified decision-making of OBS allow cataract surgeons to invest significantly more on state-of-the-art cataract surgical equipment than in any multispecialty ASCs.
Will OBS replace ASCs?
OBS will not replace multispecialty or ophthalmic-specific ASCs, but rather create a win-win situation because some other procedures in ASCs get more reimbursements than cataract surgeries. Therefore, moving some cataract surgeries from very busy multispecialty ASCs can increase profitability for the ASCs.
If you already own or co-own a single-specialty ASC, then you have already made a smart decision that will provide you with all the advantages above. The ASC will allow you to provide safe, comfortable and affordable surgeries for your patients. If you do not have ownership, an OBS provides another option that gives you full control over your practice without the financial risk of an ASC investment.
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