Patient Advocates Ask Florida Lawmakers to Expand Surgical Recovery Care Access Across Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by Floridians for Better Community Care:

A bill allowing Florida's ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to provide extended recovery times following same-day surgical procedures (HB 999) passed through the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee today.   Advocates hail the bill as pro-patient reform that would prevent avoidable admissions to higher cost care settings, therefore reducing healthcare costs statewide while ensuring patient access to community-based surgical care.

If enacted, patients would be permitted to remain in an ASC for up to 23 hours while they recover from minimally-invasive surgical procedures, effectively updating an antiquated Florida law requiring that patients in ASCs be discharged by same-day close of business, or face transfer to a hospital.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and 34 states have already implemented laws allowing for 23-hour stays in an ASC.   

"Across the country, policies are in place which facilitate the delivery of better patient care and lower healthcare costs through access to 23-hour ambulatory surgical care services," said Kathleen Myers, Administrator of the Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery, who testified before the Subcommittee today. "I strongly urge our state lawmakers to advance this legislation, which translates into lower costs for patients, their families, their employers and state taxpayers."

Data show that a 23-hour ASC policy would benefit patients, employers and taxpayers alike.  On average, the Medicare program reimburses ASCs at a rate that is nearly half (55 percent) of the reimbursement rate to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) providing the exact same surgical care.  Nationwide, these lower ASC rates saved the federal Medicare program $7.5 billion from 2008-2011, illustrating the potential savings to Florida if more patients would avoid hospitalization by seeking care in the ambulatory setting.

In addition to savings, more than nine-in-10 ASC patients report high satisfaction and experience infection rates of less then one percent due to highly controlled ASC environments and rigorous infection prevention practices.

"Patients in our State deserve access to the same modern surgical recovery care practices available to other surgical patients across the U.S.," added Myers. "Limiting patient access to the appropriate recovery times in the community-based setting unfairly puts patient choice at risk, therefore I am asking the Committee to move this bill today so it is one step closer to becoming law."

There are more than 400 ASCs operating in Florida today, which safely perform an estimated 1.5 million surgical procedures statewide each year. ASCs are fully regulated by federal and state entities and are evaluated by independent parties for state licensure, Medicare certification, and accreditation.

Representative Heather Fitzenhagen (R-78) in the Florida House of Representatives is the original sponsor of HB 999. 

SOURCE Floridians for Better Community Care