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A pilot group of ambulatory surgical centers in Oregon could be authorized to let patients stay up to 2 nights after admission if proposed legislation passes.
According to Outpatient Surgery, under House Bill 2664, 16 ASCs would be allowed to have an “extended stay” license. At least half of those facilities would need to be affiliated with a hospital system. A minimum of five, but as many as eight, could be independent ASCs.
The legislation–which failed to pass in past years because it was contested by the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems for fear that it would impact their bottom line–now has strong bipartisan support and is expected to be approved in the current legislative session.
If the bill passes, Oregon ASCs could begin providing extended care through a five-year pilot program as soon as 2018. Each facility would be required to share data with the Oregon Health Authority to track costs and patient outcomes.
"We want to make sure whatever we adopt in Oregon propels health care in a positive direction," says Chris Skagen, JD, MELP, the executive director of the Oregon Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. "We'll keep the door open for 5 years, and we'll want to get into some quality metrics and costs to track and see if it will benefit the whole system nationally. If after 5 years we evaluate and see that this model doesn't make sense, we'll look for a more appropriate direction to take."
Currently a handful of other states like Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada and New Mexico allow ASCs to provide extended care.
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