Ambulatory Centers on Rise in U.S., Area

By Robert Cole, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Feb. 13–Patients in Kansas City recovering from gallbladder surgery won’t be receiving many hospital visitors. Most of them don’t even enter the hospital.

Instead, they’re checking into ambulatory surgery centers, which use minimally invasive surgical techniques that are becoming increasingly prevalent. Patients typically have their operation in the morning and go home the same day after a brief stay in recovery.

Shawnee Mission Surgery Center performed nearly 7,000 procedures last year, including orthopedic, plastic surgery, gynecology and general surgeries such as gallbladder.

Outpatient surgeries at St. Luke’s Surgicenter-Lee’s Summit, which opened in 2005 on the city’s north end, include otolaryngology, urology, gastroenterology, podiatry and other services.

St. Luke’s South Surgery Center will open in April on the Overland Park campus of St. Luke’s South hospital, said Colleen Heeter, senior vice president at Leawood-based Nueterra Healthcare. Nueterra is in partnership with St. Luke’s Health System on the centers.

Other area centers specialize in colonoscopies, skin cancer procedures and vein treatments.

In 2003, about 3,700 ambulatory surgery centers were operating in the U.S., compared with 275 in 1980.

Experts say the increase in centers is driven by physicians who want more control of their practice.

Doctors have also been frustrated by the lack of state-of-the-art equipment due to budget cuts at traditional hospitals.

Medical reimbursement, for physicians and hospitals, is a serious concern, said Samuel H. Turner Sr., president and chief executive of Shawnee Mission Medical Center. Physician-owned facilities have “taken off” in growing suburban areas, including Johnson County, where there is good income per capita, he said.

But new ambulatory surgery centers have helped traditional hospitals gain income that helps cover costs in difficult areas, including oncology and indigent care.

“Initially there was fear that we would dilute our hospital income,” Turner said. “We found that we’ve actually grown. It allows us to take care of patients where there isn’t adequate payment.”

New outpatient surgeries should become available as technology evolves, yet the traditional hospital will still play a vital role in the quality of care.

“We’re the safety net,” Turner said. “When it comes down to it, we take care of the uninsured.”

To reach Robert Cole, call (816) 234-4296 or send e-mail to rcole@kcstar.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

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