Are you in need of a surgical procedure but confused as to where to have it done and which choice will benefit your health the most? What about the cost associated with the procedure and the length of recovery time? All of those are reasons why you may want to consider an ambulatory or outpatient surgery center like Grove Place Surgery Center verses the hospital.
The only type of surgeries that can be done at outpatient surgery centers are those that can be done in a day and the patient can go home to recover. By definition they are healthcare facilities focused on providing surgical care without the need for the patient to stay overnight. A few decades ago, most surgeries were performed inside a hospital and inpatient treatment and recovery could take weeks or months. As medical technology increased and minimally invasive surgery became more common, the ASC was created to streamline low-risk procedures and ASC’s have become an effective, safe alternative to surgery in a hospital setting.
“Our patients at Grove Place Surgery Center are otherwise healthy patients who need a procedure that doesn’t require an overnight stay,” Barbara Narenkivicius – Grove Place Surgery Center Administrator said. “Our patients are prescreened, selected and cleared for surgery by their physician. Our surgeries are generally in the field of orthopedics, ENT, podiatry and interventional pain management. In 2021 we saw a total of 335 joint replacement procedures performed here at Grove Place.
“Our patients choose the outpatient setting because they like to recover in the comfort of their own home, there is no exposure to infection because are patients are not sick like they are in the hospital and typically it’s a lower cost,” she continued. “ Because our surgeries are on otherwise healthy patients our infection rate is literally less than 1% which is far less than those in hospitals.”
Costs of surgery at outpatient surgery centers can be 45-60% less expensive than hospitals which benefit patients, insurers, and taxpayers equally. The Department of Health and Human Services estimate a savings of 15 billion to taxpayers and $3 billion to Medicare patients if all qualifying surgeries were performed at the outpatient surgery centers. The savings filter down to the patient with lower co-pays and deductibles if they are insured.
Keep in mind that the high-quality healthcare of surgical centers is equal to if not higher than those at hospitals. The surgeons have to have the same credentials to operate in both hospitals and surgery centers and many will do both. The price difference is attributed to the structure of the outpatient surgery center and their productivity.
Safety is another reason to choose an outpatient surgery center because it is believed to be safer and cleaner. That’s due to the fact that a patient’s health is thoroughly checked prior to their surgery and patients with contagious diseases are not allowed. As a result, the patient’s risk of contracting an illness from another patient significantly reduced.
Time is precious and most people do not want to spend their time in a hospital. Time spent by a patient in an outpatient surgery center is far less than the time spent in the hospital for the same surgery. And most patients would like to spend their time recovering in the comfort of their own home. They also don’t want to waste their time on delayed or rescheduled surgery which is common in a hospital setting due to unexpected emergencies.
Dr. Richard Steinfeld, an orthopedic surgeon and partner of Grove Place, performs surgeries at Grove Place Surgery Center, Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital and Sebastian River Hospital. He reserves surgeries at Grove Place Surgery Center for healthy patients who can go home to their own bed. For those surgeries that can’t be done on an outpatient basis he goes to one of the hospitals.
“Autonomy is what we do best at Grove Place,” Dr. Steinfeld explained. “Nobody knows better what to do for their patient than the doctor and at Grove Place there are no administrators telling them what can and can’t be done as might be found in the hospital setting. There is a huge cost savings as well and insurers prefer to have the procedures done in an outpatient setting if medically appropriate. I personally have performed hip and knee replacement surgeries and rotator cuff repairs in the surgery center. In terms of efficiency Grove Place surgery center shines because we have our own anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist as well as a highly qualified staff of nurses. We all know how to work with each other.”
Overall, patient satisfaction is exceeding high at Grove Place Surgery Center according to Narenkivicius. “We regularly receive letters saying how pleased they were with the care and our patients come back over and over again for different procedures. We do surveys on every patient, physician and health care worker and we have good results in all three categories which makes for a very nice workplace. In fact, our most recent patient satisfaction rate was 93%.”
So next time you require surgery, remember that where you have surgery may have just as much impact as who does the surgery. Discuss the options with your physician and decide what is best for you.
Grove Place Surgery Center has approximately 30 physicians on staff who offer medical procedures in the fields of anesthesiology, general surgery, Neuro Spine Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, ENT, Pain Management, Plastic Surgery, Podiatry and Urology. Grove Place is part of Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA), a national surgical solutions provider committed to improving healthcare in America and accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). For more information call 772-778-3113.
