How SIS Complete Gives ASCs Clearer Visibility into Patient Recovery

A smarter, more organized way for ASCs to manage long-term follow-up so that no patient falls through the cracks.

Long-term follow-up is one of the most persistent operational challenges facing ASCs. Recovery doesn't end when a patient leaves the surgery center. It stretches across weeks and months, and someone has to track every check-in, every questionnaire, and every response along the way.

On my visits to ASCs across the country, I've seen ASCs conduct their follow-up every way imaginable:

• Some centers manage their long-term follow-up in a separate software program from their ASC software, which leaves them with two vendors, two logins, two bills, and (if they don't have an integration connecting the two programs) double the work.
• Some centers still lean heavily on paper-based processes, even if they're using an EHR for their clinical documentation. One center I spoke to would print their 30-60-90 day questionnaires for their nurse to fill out on the phone with the patient, then scan it into the EHR. Not only is this process cumbersome, but it also inhibits access to valuable patient recovery data that can help centers prove (or improve) the value of care they provide.

As volumes for procedures requiring long-term follow-up, such as total joint replacements, continue to grow in the ASC setting, this approach becomes increasingly difficult to sustain. Many ASCs already struggle to maintain long-term follow-up programs, while others lack the resources to offer them at all despite recognizing their importance.

Meet Long-Term Patient Outcomes

The Long-Term Patient Outcomes (LTPO) module is designed specifically to help ASCs organize and automate structured follow-up. It's built directly into SIS Charts (the EHR portion of SIS Complete); it's not a separate system to log into, another vendor to manage, or one more login for your staff to remember.

LTPO brings follow-up directly into the platform countless ASCs rely on every day. That means less manual work, better continuity of care, and clearer visibility into patient recovery, all without adding complexity to current workflows. It's a straightforward extension of the Operate Smart approach: run your ASC more efficiently by consolidating the tools your team needs into one connected platform.

Why This Matters Now

Whether you're seeking AAAHC accreditation, preparing your ASC for any future mandates from CMS, or you want to track patient outcomes to prove or enhance the quality of care your center provides, LTPO is designed to make follow-up easy:

• Workflow burden. Manual follow-up grows harder to sustain as case volumes rise, especially across multi-site operations. Staff-dependent tracking doesn't scale, and turnover only compounds the risk.
• Patient recovery visibility. Structured outreach helps teams catch complications, falls, or infection concerns earlier, while strengthening patient education throughout the recovery window.
• Accreditation and CMS ASC-21 readiness. Organized, well-documented follow-up supports evolving quality reporting and accreditation expectations, making it easier for your center to tell its story at audit time.
• Scalability. A repeatable, automated process delivers far more reliable results than tracking that depends on paper tracking or staff memory.

How LTPO Works in Practice

LTPO is built around a simple, workflow-friendly flow: assign follow-up, automate outreach, capture responses, and act on what matters, directly inside SIS Charts.

Here's how that plays out day-to-day:

• Configurable questionnaires, recurring cadences, and preference card automation keep the right patients on the right follow-up schedule, so outreach happens automatically instead of relying on manual reminders.
• As responses come in, clinical workflow tracking reduces the amount of time and effort spent tracking down patients so that they only spend time following up with patients who haven't responded. If patients are non-responsive, staff members can log patient outreach attempts directly in SIS Charts.
• Critical response flagging surfaces urgent patient answers the moment they arrive. If a patient reports a concerning symptom or complication, your team sees it right away and can respond quickly, turning follow-up from a passive checklist into an active safeguard for patient care.
• Reporting helps ASCs monitor patient responses, allowing them to drill down into specific questions and identify potential trends in how patients are recovering.

Key Capabilities

SIS Charts has gained a reputation for its ease of use and configurability (validated by 11 Black Book and 4 Best in KLAS awards). It was important that LTPO help centers complete their long-term follow-up without disrupting their workflows (and while supporting that “ease of use” SIS Charts has become known for).

Configurable Questionnaires

Tailor follow-up questions to specialty- and center-specific recovery milestones, so every outreach captures the information that matters most.

Recurring Cadences

Automate structured outreach across the entire follow-up window, ensuring no patient is overlooked as recovery progresses.

Preference Card Automation

Questionnaires attach to cases based on the preference card, cutting repetitive work for your staff and ensuring the right patients receive the right follow-up.

Clinical Workflow Tracking

Give your team one place to manage outreach, monitor progress, and document activity, with a clear view of each patient's status.

Critical Response Flagging

When used with SIS Charts' native clinical sensitive information feature, urgent patient responses surface automatically, so your team can prioritize timely intervention.

Native to SIS Complete

The LTPO module fits into your existing SIS Charts workflow, so you can keep follow-up, documentation, and patient communication in the platform your team already uses. No new system, no added vendor complexity.

What Early Adopters Are Seeing

Three ASCs that perform total joint procedures were among the first to use the LTPO module. Each one has seen meaningful operational improvements.

• Center 1 consolidated follow-up into a single system, reducing its reliance on spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Around 70% of patients respond to their follow-up questionnaires on the first attempt.
• Center 2 replaced paper, scanning, and manual tracking, proving the workflow in a high-volume total joint environment. They plan to implement LTPO across three additional facilities.
• Center 3 identified that a number of their patients were experiencing post-op constipation as a result of their pain medication. This insight prompted them to change their physician orders and update their discharge instructions.

Across each center, the story is consistent: simpler workflows, less manual effort, and clearer visibility into how patients recover after they leave the OR.

Prove Your Outcomes Make a Lasting Difference

If your ASC is still managing long-term follow-up with spreadsheets and paper, LTPO offers a smarter path forward, one that lives right inside SIS Complete and is available for a low monthly fee.

Current SIS clients can contact their SIS representative to see how LTPO fits into their existing workflow. And as with every SIS solution, you'll have hands-on support and straightforward setup from a team with deep ASC expertise behind you.

Better follow-up. Clearer visibility. Stronger patient care. That's what it means to Operate Smart with SIS.