About Us

“ASCs are on the leading edge of healthcare.”

President George Bush, February 16, 2006 Washington DC

What is the Utah Ambulatory Surgery Center Association?

* The Utah Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (UASCA) currently represents surgery centers and physicians across the state of Utah.

What are Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs)?

* Surgery centers are affordable, accessible, and safe facilities for outpatient surgical treatment.
* Surgery centers feature high nurse-to-patient ratios, an absence of cost-shifting and virtually no infection rate (less than .3%).
* Utah ASCs are approved and accredited by the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Organizations (JCAHO), and the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC).
* Surgery centers are cost effective. Prices are low and billed charges are clearly delineated for the patient.

Are surgery centers the same thing as specialty hospitals?

* No. Specialty hospitals are facilities in which in-patient procedures are performed. The current moratorium on specialty hospitals does not involve surgery centers.

What are UASCA’s goals at the state level?

* To ensure that surgery centers remain in place as affordable and accessible alternatives for outpatient surgical care in Utah.
* To play a supporting role in efforts to make our health care system more transparent, cost-effective and accountable for Utah’s consumers.
* To educate policy makers about the achievements inherent to the surgery center model of care and to maximize surgery center utilization in efforts to achieve costs savings in Medicaid and Medicare.
* To collect and analyze data to support an informed public dialogue about the role of surgery centers in our health care delivery system.

What are UASCA’s goals at the federal level?

* To support advocacy efforts initiated by the ASC Association.
* To investigate the current trend by insurance companies nationally and locally to exclude ASCs from viable contracts.
* To advocate a repeal of the current freeze on Medicare reimbursement rates for ASCs.
* To shed light on problems with the existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services list of ASC-approved procedures and to urge the replacement of a separate ASC list with a system of parity between ASCs and Hospital Outpatient Departments (HOPDs).
* To contribute new ideas and perspectives to the ongoing dialogue concerning the role of surgery centers in the nation’s health care delivery system.

“ASCs play a very important role in creating a modern, innovative health care system by providing care at a lower cost with better patient satisfaction. With the challenge of rising health care costs, it is clear to me that innovation and creativity in ASCs can make a big difference in the quality and cost of health care.”

Mark McClellan MD, PhD Administrator for Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, February 7, 2006 Washington, DC