More and more healthcare services and procedures are moving out of primary hospitals and into ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and specialty clinics because it’s less costly, offers faster recovery times and is often more convenient for patients.
Many systems are now offering things like spine care, certain cardiovascular procedures, minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, ophthalmology and urology at sites outside of the hospital setting.
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We talked with four healthcare system leaders in the region to find out how their organizations are handling these transitions and what types of services and surgeries are appropriate for ASCs. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer; it varies from rural areas to metro communities and from case to case. We also asked them to weigh in on where healthcare is headed in the next 10 years.
As Pete Edis, CEO at McKenzie Health in western North Dakota, points out, “What is clinically appropriate in an urban market is not necessarily appropriate for every rural patient. At McKenzie Health, for example, we continue to hospitalize many total joint patients for one to three days, and some subsequently utilize swing-bed services for rehabilitatio...