“I felt I could do a better job providing spine surgery to our patients.”
In a presentation during Becker’s ASC Review’s 12th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + the Future of Spine, June 12 in Chicago, Mick Perez-Cruet, MD, the chief of minimally invasive surgery at Beaumont Hospital and a neurosurgeon at the Michigan Head & Spine Institute in Royal Oak, discussed some of the cost-saving strategies employed by the Beaumont Health System Neuroscience Center of Excellence.
1. Patient education. Beaumont offers preoperative patient education classes and resources that explain in layman’s terms what patients should expect postoperatively. “It’s about what to expect, how to prepare for surgery and what to expect when you get back home,” he said. Providing patient education increases satisfaction while allowing clinicians, who now have to field fewer questions from patients, be more productive.
2. Shared savings program. “Vendors don’t like it because it means a reduction in their reimbursements, but then you can split the cost savings among the physicians,” said Dr. Perez-Cruet. He said the money saved when physicians have financial incentives to select less expensive devices is reinvested back into his facility, or helps to fund his research.
3. Task force. Beaumont has an internal review committee that is constantly evaluating cases to find areas for both cost savings and quality improvement. “The task force reviews and sees how we can make improvements to be more cost-effective,” said Dr. Perez-Cruet. Their findings are then shared with the surgeons and center leaders.
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