LouisianA AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box14940
BaTON Rouge, LA70898-4940
(225) 923-1599 Office
(225) 208-1932Fax
DearLouisianaAmbulatorySurgeryCenter Friend,
We invite you to become an Associate member of the Louisiana Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. The Louisiana Ambulatory Surgery Center Association is arguably one of the most effective medical specialty societies in our state. We are the only organization focused solely on ambulatory surgery interests in Louisiana.
Your 2016 membership includes:
Advocacy – LASCA has a full-time lobbyist monitoring legislative and regulatory threats, the 2015 Regular Legislative Session is to convene at noon on Monday March 14, 2016 and final adjournment no later than 6pm on June 6, 2016.
Sponsorship Opportunities, etc. – LASCA has its Annual meeting January 15th, 2016 at the West Baton Rouge Conference Center and is part of a Tri State Regional Conference in June
Advertisement in our Weekly e-Newsletters to over 100 LASCA members
Advertisement on our website :
I serve as the LASCA’s Executive Director and I am “stationed” at the Louisiana State Capitol every day while the Louisiana Legislature is in session to ensure that our members and their patients’ interests are well-served. LASCA has a strong reputation among state legislators for being an outspoken advocacy organization.
You are very much needed to help preserve our valuable role in our State’s patient care delivery system. Formed in 2001, LASCA is your state association. There are more than seventy licensed ASCs in Louisiana. We are united in our mission to protect, expand, and improve the ability of ambulatory surgery centers to effectively serve our patients and to continue to provide our physicians the highly efficient and caring facility and staff they need to be productive in their surgical practice.
WE BELIEVE…
We must defend and preserve the right of the licensed ambulatory surgery facility to provide all appropriate outpatient surgical services to our patients;
We must preserve the right of physicians that use our surgery centers to be active in the management and direction of our facilities and , if the option is available, to maintain an ownership interest in the facility where they treat their patients;
We must work continuously to preserve and improve our fee structures and ability to generate revenues needed to support competitive, safe, and efficient quality care ;
We must be active in our state and federal legislative and regulatory processes to support our interests and to prevent efforts by others to undermine our ongoing success.
We must be united and act together to be effective in preserving our industry and our livelihood and the value we offer to Louisiana’s patients and physicians.
YOUR INVOLVEMENT BY BECOMING A MEMBER IS CRITICAL to strengthen our association efforts to not only monitor, but to positively influence how our legislative and regulatory officials here in Louisiana develop and adopt laws which dramatically impact our facility operations. As a united group we have the ability to open doors and to sway opinions and participate in the many key processes which affect our ability to operate and succeed. There are many key issues which affect our ambulatory surgery facility industry which require our attention and efforts to shape public policy here in Louisiana: Licensing standards, ownership restrictions, eligible procedures for the ASC, hours of operation, efforts to reduce workers compensation payments, taxation, regulation of personnel, Medicaid eligibility and reimbursement, medical records access and retention, public right to know and compare fees, insurance payment regulations and limits for auditing cases. These are but a few, but there are many, many more.
WHY JOIN NOW?
We must strengthen our numbers and become more active in preserving our interests or we will face the constant uncertainty of what other well-organized groups such as the health insurance industry and the hospital association will sponsor to harm our facilities, our owners, and our ability to serve our patients. We need your active involvement to share in the effort it requires to effectively voice our position.
Members of LASCA receive access to regular email reports from our lobbyist who comprehensively tracks the legislative and regulatory efforts ongoing in Louisiana which affect ambulatory surgery centers. Our association reviews the potential impact to our industry and coordinates with our members to effectively voice our position for or against specific measures. We may also develop and pursue a sponsor for legislation we believe is needed to protect or improve our ASC industry. We cooperate and work together to be effective.
During the 2009 Regular legislative session, LASCA worked hard to defeat House and Senate Bills that would have made massive changes to the scope and operation of Louisiana’s workers’ compensation system. There were many egregious elements contained in the bills sponsored by the Louisianans for Workers’ Comp Reform.
During the 2008 Regular Legislative session, LASCA worked hard to defeat Senate Bill 599 by Senator Nick Gautreaux which would have prohibited any physician from referring a patient to an ancillary service provider in which the physician has an ownership interest.
As we launch this effort to maximize our voices, we invite you to join us and become a member of the only organization which is dedicated to preserving your licensed ASC andyour ability to effectively operate in Louisiana. An application for membership is attached for you to complete and return. We urge you to take this important step to protecting your ASC facility and the physicians and patients you serve by becoming involved .Please help make a difference.
Enclosed is an application for associate membership. We would like to see you join the ranks of our professional membership organization. If we can answer any questions regarding becoming a member or membership benefits, please contact me at (225) 326-3180 or on my cell number, (225) 933-5435.
You may also reach me by email at
LOUISIANA AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER ASSOCIATION
2016ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Applicant Name: ______
Applicant’s Business: ______
Address: ______
City: ______State: ______Zip Code: ______
Telephone #:______
Fax #: ______
List Contact Person(s) – (maximum of two) – to whom LASCA information should be sent (Newsletters, special notices)
(1) ______
Name Title e-mail address
(2) ______
Name Title e-mail address
Please send your website advertisement and eNewsletter advertisement to Membership Director Sarah Heath at
I/we hereby apply for membership in the LouisianaAmbulatorySurgeryCenterAssociation (LASCA) and agree to abide by such By-Laws and/or rules of the Association which may be enacted. The information herein is true and to the best of my/our knowledge.
______
Signature Print Name Date
Annual Dues are $500.00
CHECK # ______CHECK DATE ______
Please make your check payable to “LASCA” and mail along with your completed application to: P.O. Box 14940, Baton Rouge, LA70898-4940