1. Review your health benefits plan

Check to see if your benefits include coverage for the procedure. If the surgery is a covered service, ask your doctor if you can go to an ASC. Unlike urgent care centers, ASCs are only for patients referred for outpatient surgery — not for diagnostic tests or routine medical treatment.

Surgeries most often performed at ASCs include:

• Eye surgery, such as cataracts and removal of foreign material
  
  
• Gastroenterology procedures
  
  
• Ear, nose, and throat procedures, such as removal of tonsils and adenoids
  
  
• Gynecological procedures, such as D & Cs and laparoscopies
  
  
• General surgeries, such as cyst removal, biopsies, hernia repair, and hemorrhoid operations
  
  
• Reconstructive surgery
  
  
• Foot surgery, including removal of bunions, corns, and warts, and bone spurs
  
  

2. Find an ASC near you

To find a participating ASC near you, go to www.humana.com and click on "hospital" in the "I want to find" menu and provide the information requested.

On the "type of provider" screen, select "Other health care providers," and then click on "Outpatient surgery centers," the category that includes ASCs.

3. Compare your costs

If your doctor refers you to an ASC, make sure it's an in-network facility. Call the facility before the surgery is scheduled and ask what the charges will be. This isn't secret information. You have a right to know. If the ASC won't give you this information, ask your doctor to recommend another facility that will.

A look at your health plan can show you how your costs differ, depending on where you have the surgery. To review your plan coverage, go to MyHumana, your personal home page at www.humana.com, and click on "Coverage Details Document" under "My Benefits."

Let's say your plan requires you to pay copayments and a $500 deductible, and your benefits are 80 percent of costs for in-network services after the deductible.

The following example shows how much you could save by using an in-network ASC instead of an in-network hospital. The amounts listed below are estimates only — the payments, shown in bold type, are based on the benefits of a PPO plan.

In the example above, you saved $200 by using an ASC — money you could spend on other things, like paying your utility bill (ugh!) or firing up the grill and having a party (yeah!).

4. Understand the advantages of an ASC

• Safe - Each year, doctors perform more than 8 million surgeries in more than 4,200 ASCs across the United States. Some offer services in multiple specialties, while others limit themselves to one specialty, such as laser eye surgery. All ASCs must have the equipment and staff to perform surgery and care for patients safely. Patients undergo surgery in an operating room and recover under the care of a nursing staff.
  
  
• ASCs are highly regulated - Most undergo stringent licensure, certification, and accreditation reviews. In fact, according to the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, most ASCs are held to many of the same standards as hospitals. Virtually all states require ASCs to be licensed, just like hospitals. ASCs that opt to provide services to Medicare patients must obtain Medicare certification. Many also submit to accreditation by an independent accrediting organization.
  
  
• Affordable - You've already seen how you can save by using an ASC. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission confirms the "affordability factor": For 87 percent of procedures, Medicare payments to ASCs are lower than those to hospitals for comparable services. Also, patients pay less coinsurance for procedures at an ASC than for comparable surgery in a hospital setting.
  
  
• Technologically advanced - Faster acting and more effective anesthetics and less invasive techniques, such as arthroscopy, make it practical to perform a growing range of procedures in ASCs. Surgeries that used to require major incisions, deep sedation and extended recoveries are now closed techniques with conscious sedation and minimal recovery time. As medical innovation continues, more procedures will be suitable for an ASC setting.
  
  

Bottom line:

Before you're scheduled for outpatient surgery, check out your options and costs. You may keep more money in your pocket by having your surgery done at an ASC.

Additional resources:

Federated Ambulatory Surgery Association

American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers