The vast majority of ambulatory surgery center (ASC) operators participate in the Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program, a new industry survey suggests.
The ASCQR Program requires ASCs to report specific quality measures to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) looked at participation in a recent survey, publishing results on Aug. 30.
The survey collected 321 responses from surgery centers across 46 states. It found that ASCs not participating in ASCQR cited reasons such as being new, not Medicare certified, or not meeting the minimum volume threshold of 240 Medicare claims per year.
Looking ahead, CMS has proposed adding three new measures to the ASCQR Program in the CY 2025 OPPS/ASC proposed rule, including the Facility Commitment to Health Equity (FCHE) measure and two Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) measures.
ASCA has expressed concerns about the timing and applicability of these measures, particularly given the forthcoming mandatory implementation of the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) Survey.
“It is unreasonable to add another measure to the ASCQR Program next year that has not yet been tested in the outpatient setting,” the organization wrote.
The ASCA survey also delved into the time commitment required to report on seven key measures through the Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) portal, including patient safety and outcome measures like ASC-1 (Patient Burn) and ASC-4 (All-Cause Hospital Transfer/Admission). Nearly 60% of ASCs reported that it takes less than 10 hours annually to collect, summarize and submit this data.
However, a notable 17.2% indicated that the process exceeds 20 hours per year.
One specific measure, ASC-20, which tracks COVID-19 vaccination coverage among health care personnel, is reported via the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) tool.
Nearly 75% of respondents noted that it takes less than 10 hours per year to report this data, though 10.4% reported spending over 20 hours on this task.
Technical issues further complicate the reporting process, with nearly 66% of ASCs experiencing problems with the HQR portal or NHSN tool, leading to delays and increased time spent on submissions, ASCA’s survey found.
“In addition to the time necessary to collect, summarize and submit quality reporting data, a majority of facilities attested to having experienced technical issues with the HQR portal or the NHSN reporting tool,” ASCA wrote.
