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MASA would like to welcome our newest members:
- Advanced Endoscopy Center of Howard County
- Cumberland Valley Surgery Center
- Frederick Surgery Center
- Maryland Surgeons Center of Columbia, LLC
- Physicians Surgery Center of Frederick
- Surgery Center of Chevy Chase
- Western Maryland Eye Center
- Foundation Surgery Affiliates
MASA Needs You
The Maryland Ambulatory Surgery Association needs you to spread the word about our association and its efforts. We need to recruit more members, become more involved in the lobbying efforts on behalf of all ASCs and we need volunteers to assist in managing our association. Please contact any of our board members to find out how you can help.
ASCs and ACOs
Yes, our world is full of acronyms. On March 31, 2011, draft regulations for Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) were released. These proposed regulations describe the ways Medicare ACOs will function. The ACOs are scheduled to begin operations in January 2012, less than 9 months from now. ACOs provide a mechanism for providers to work through an organization to manage the care of Medicare patients and share in any savings generated by efficiently managing that care. There are 429 pages of these draft regulations and they are being analyzed by the (national) Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCA) to determine how ambulatory surgery centers may be impacted.
ACOs are a federal construct centered on Medicare services. One of the intentions of recent legislation in Washington is to have other carriers follow the example of the Medicare program and its adoption of ACOs. As you read this, Carefirst has already undertaken such a demonstration project in Maryland. Regardless of what happens at the federal level, those of us in health care in Maryland can expect significant changes to the manner in which care is organized and delivered. Several months ago, the Governor established several committees to recommend changes in health-care delivery in Maryland. The committees held meetings to work on developing alternative models. The 2011 legislative session is over and we didn't see a great deal of legislation that impacts ASCs. This will certainly change in future legislative sessions.
One of the most important (and costly) goals of the Maryland Ambulatory Surgery Association (MASA) is to monitor and influence legislation and regulations that impact the ASCs in Maryland. To that end, we retain legal representation with a significant presence in Annapolis.
To those centers that are members of MASA, thank you for your support. For those that may not be members, we need you to join so we can continue to represent the interests of ASCs in Maryland.
Don Bartnick, MASA Treasurer
One of the ways the MASA Board is working for you
In October 2010, members of your MASA Board became aware of a proposed change in regulations involving the Certificate of Need requirements for operating rooms in Maryland. These regulations impacted hospitals, hospital outpatient surgery centers, and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers. The president of MASA, Andrea Hyatt, provided written comments on the proposed regulations distilled from comments provided to her by other Board members. These comments were forwarded to the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) and considered along with comments provided by health care consultants and hospital executives. As a result of the comments received, the MHCC determined that a workgroup should be formed to more thoroughly discuss the proposed changes to the regulations.
On May 4 and June 13, 2011, four representatives from MASA participated with health care consultants, hospital executives and members of the MHCC in discussions about the regulations. These discussions enabled us to explain the impact of the proposed changes on freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, to explore the reasons for the proposed changes, and to influence the regulation development process. Your Board members had “a seat at the table” during regulation development.
One topic of discussion involved clarifying the definition of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers to which the proposed regulations would apply and to modify the degree to which the regulations would require uncompensated care. We were able to inform the MHCC members and the hospital representatives of the unique challenges for ASCs in attempting to coordinate uncompensated care for elective surgical patients across health care providers with little or no financial or legal connection to the ASC. Your Board members were able to help the MHCC staff understand differences in data that the commission was considering in developing regulations. One example was the differentiation of participating vs. non-par centers and the implications for providing uncompensated care.
Participating in a MHCC workgroup is one of the ways the MASA Board members work for you to protect and enhance the success of your surgery center. We also engage in the political process, meeting and informing members of the State legislature and we work in concert with other organizations when we have shared goals. We appreciate the support of our membership and encourage membership growth and member participation in our efforts.
By Don Bartnick, MASA Treasurer
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