Introduction
The issue of data acquisition and management should be a prime concern in the planning of all surgery centers. A management information system designed specifically for outpatient surgery centers is an invaluable tool for ensuring the efficient flow of daily operations, analyzing the costs of doing procedures, providing management with crucial information necessary for long‑term strategic planning and negotiating with managed care organizations and will also assist the center in complying with federal and state legislative reporting requirements.
The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) of the State of Florida requires all licensed ambulatory surgery centers to submit the Ambulatory Patient Data Report. Documentation and instructions for submitting the report should be requested from the agency.
According to AHCA, the purpose of reporting ambulatory patient data is to “provide a statewide integrated database of ambulatory surgical procedures and permit assessment of variations in utilization, practice parameters, access to ambulatory care and estimates of cost trends for ambulatory procedures.”
I. Ambulatory Patient Data Reporting, Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 59B‑9.030
Who must submit the report?
All licensed ambulatory surgical centers which have a total of 200 or more patient records for the quarterly reporting period are required to report data. Ambulatory centers with fewer than 200 patient records in a quarter must have the entity’s CEO certify this fact to the agency in writing. The letter must be received by the Agency prior to the deadline for submission of the report and a letter must be submitted for each quarter in which there are fewer than 200 patient records.
What data must be submitted?
The center must report one record per patient for each visit. For each patient visit, the report requires a record identification number assigned by the center, the patient’s social security number, racial background (AHCA defined categories), birth date, sex, zip code, date of service, payor code (AHCA defined categories), all diagnosis and procedure codes for the date of service, operating or performing physician license and charges for the services, including many other additional elements.
Data Reporting Schedule:
Reporting Period Report Due
January 1 through March 31 June 10
April 1 through June 30 September 10
July 1 through September 30 December 10
October 1 through December 31 March 10
How to Submit the Report
1) Extraction from the Center’s Computer System The information required includes some data and codes which are specific to AHCA requirements and therefore are not standard in general practice management information systems. Centers should investigate whether their existing systems or the systems they are considering purchasing are capable of producing the report and, if so, whether they will be required to pay additional programming charges. Certain software vendors which provide management information systems designed specifically for outpatient surgery centers include the capability of generating the report as part of the standard system. Other vendors may extract the data but charge a programming fee.
