OR Manager - November 2018 - 27

AMBULATORY
SURGERY CENTERS
Early action advised to achieve better OAS CAHPS responses
Educating
andatory implementation of
the Consumer Assessment
of Healthcare Providers and
Systems Outpatient and Ambulatory
Surgery Survey (OAS CAHPS) originally
scheduled for 2018 has been delayed,
but that does not mean it should be
ignored, say ambulatory surgery center
(ASC) leaders.
The earliest projected date when the
survey could become mandatory is fall
2020, after the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services' (CMS) annual
rulemaking cycle in 2019. But many
details are involved in implementing
OAS CAHPS. It requires planning and
practice before lessons can be learned
from patients' responses regarding their
surgical experiences.
Michelle
George, MSN,
RN, CASC
" Implementation is not
like flipping a switch; it
is not a simple system, "
says Michelle George,
MSN, RN, CASC, vice
president of professional
development,
Surgical Care Affiliates,
Deerfield, Illinois, which
manages approximately
220 ASCs. ASC leaders should start
getting up to speed now (https://www.
cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-andSystems/Research/CAHPS/OASCAHPS.html).
Voluntary
participation in OAS CAHPS
began in January 2016. Early adopters
are not required to publicly report their
results, but implementing the survey
M
stakeholders about
the survey will
net better patient
satisfaction scores.
early allows ASCs to improve areas of
weakness before public reporting of results
is mandated through OAS CAHPS.
Indeed, OAS CAHPS scores prompted
one facility to revamp its discharge instructions
and, in the process, increase
patient satisfaction (sidebar, p 28).
A work in progress
OAS CAHPS is designed to measure
patients' experiences in Medicare-certified
hospital outpatient departments
(HOPDs) and ASCs, notably:
* communication and care provided by
healthcare providers and staff
* preparation for the surgery or procedure
*
preparations for discharge and recovery.
Patients
also provide an overall rating
of the facility and their willingness to
recommend it to family or friends.
Although OAS CAHPS has 37 required
questions, individual ASCs may
add up to 15 additional questions.
However, too many questions will deter
people from answering, according to
George.
" Around 60% of our centers implemented
the survey during the early
adoption period, and we have seen a
few drop out since OAS CAHPS mandatory
reporting has been delayed, " she
notes.
Patients tend to stop answering
questions after about the fifteenth
question, says Ann Shimek, MSN, BSN,
RN, CASC, senior vice president of clinical
operations for United Surgical Partners
International, Addison, Texas.
United Surgical Partners owns and
manages 250 freestanding ASCs. Of
those, she says, 85% have been early
adopters of OAS CAHPS.
Shimek thinks expecting patients to
answer 37 questions or more may be
unrealistic. Indeed, concern about the
survey being too long is one of the reasons
mandatory implementation was
delayed (sidebar, p 29).
Some ASCs already conduct their
own surveys and may continue to do
so. But the questions in those surveys
are probably different from those in OAS
CAHPS. For example, George says: " Our
old survey asked how well we did something.
OAS CAHPS asks patients how
frequently you did something, which is a
little bit different. "
Selecting a vendor
Perhaps the most important step in
implementing OAS CAHPS is finding
the right vendor. Only CMS-certified
vendors can be used to administer
Continued on page 28
AMBULATORY SURGERY ADVISORY BOARD
Michele Bossi, MSN, RN, Director of Clinical
Operations/ASC Administrator, OSS
Health, York, PA
Ellen Carpenter, BSN, RN, assistant director
of the OR, Long Island Jewish Medical
Center, New Hyde Park, New York
Tracy Hoeft-Hoffman, MSN, MBA, RN,
CASC, Administrator, Heartland Surgery
Center, Kearney, NE
Donna Quinn, MBA, BSN, RN, CAPA, CPAN,
Administrator, Orthopedic Surgery
Center, Concord, NH
Mary Jo Steiert, BSN, RN, Administrator,
Director of Nurses, Lowry Surgery
Center, Denver, CO
Mary Stewart, MSN, BSN, RN, Director,
Patient Experience, SIU Medicine,
Southern Illinois University School of
Medicine, Springfield, IL
www.ormanager.com
OR Manager | November 2018 27
https://www http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and http://www.ormanager.com
OR Manager - November 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OR Manager - November 2018
