In the coming weeks, we’ll be reaching out to insurers and large employer purchasers of health care in New Jersey asking them to join our call for transparency among Ambulatory Surgery Centers, or ASCs. In New Jersey, 100 percent of acute care hospitals participate in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. Their commitment to transparency around safety and quality improves care and saves lives.

But only a handful of ASCs in New Jersey participate in the survey. We want 2023 to be the year that changes.

We’re asking insurers and large employers to help us by contacting the ASCs in their network and outlining why they should participate in the Leapfrog ASC Survey. ASCs that report to Leapfrog demonstrate their value and commitment to quality health care. Patients and caregivers use the survey when deciding where to go for treatment. And payers can use the survey to compare quality as they build their networks.

Over time, the ASCs that use the Leapfrog ASC Survey and do well on quality will be nationally recognized and appreciated by both payers and the communities they serve. In our newsletter, I encourage you to read the “Take Five” interview with Andrew Weiss, Administrator and Assistant Vice President of Summit Surgical Center. Mr. Weiss is also a member of Leapfrog’s ASC Advisory Committee and his ASC is one of the first to report to Leapfrog. Weiss makes a powerful case for why ASCs should participate in Leapfrog. He says the survey provides an objective source that enables ASCs to demonstrate their value to consumers and payers. And the survey provides a roadmap for continual quality improvement.

I believe the Leapfrog ASC Survey will create the benchmark for quality among ASCs, just as it has for hospitals. Our goal is to get at least 40 ASCs in New Jersey to participate in the survey this year. I believe that eventually ASCs reporting to Leapfrog and transparently sharing their performance on safety measures will be the norm. But we have a long way to go. Information about the ASC survey is available online.

Today, more than 60 percent of surgeries in the United States are performed in hospital outpatient centers or ASCs. At the Quality Institute, we have been communicating with ASCs and will continue to encourage them to participate and to learn more about Leapfrog. They tell us that if the payers and patients wanted them to report they would. So help us send the message that payers and consumers do care about quality and want their providers to be transparent. As surgeries move outside the hospital walls, patient safety reporting must follow.