Mihir Patel, MD, is treasurer of Indianapolis-based OrthoIndy.
Dr. Patel will serve on the panels “Bundled Payments in Orthopedic ASCs: What Works and What Doesn't” and “ASC M&A: Most Interesting Trends and What to Expect in 2023” at Becker’s ASC Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference on Oct. 27-29 in Chicago.
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Question: What are you most excited about right now and what makes you nervous?
Mihir Patel: I am most excited about the growth of health technology companies, in short, HealthTech. Four years ago, I was most excited about AI reducing back office burdens for providers and those technologies are being deployed across the medical spectrum. From improving care models to continued improvements in devices and administrative procedures, HealthTech is only just beginning.
On a day to day basis, labor and supply chain issues are at the forefront of making us nervous. Since healthcare can be unpredictable, both are kind of in the back of the mind as to whether we will have what we need when we need it.
Q: How are you thinking about growth over the next 12 months?
MP: Growth in economies of scale through smart, cost effective technology is what I am thinking over the next 12-24 months. On the administrative side, technology that continually reduces providers burdens for documentation, nuisance peer to peer reviews and denials on claims could be tremendous for practices. On the provider side, old is new again. Home doctor visits from decades ago are back via technologies providing in-home therapies and devices across medical specialties that allow providers to monitor a variety of conditions even more efficiently than just the routine check-up in the office.
Q: What will healthcare executives and leaders need to be effective leaders for the next five years?
MP: Visualizing and adapting versus reacting to change makes effective leaders. Finding efficient processes in other industries that can be applied to health care makes effective leaders. Finally, minimizing downside risk is absolutely essential with declining reimbursements and increasing expenses.
Q: What is your strategy for recruiting and retaining great teams?
MP: Empowering well-diversified teams in terms of skill sets, experience, race, gender, age, sex and culture can add tremendous value to the growth of organizations. Supervisors who can listen and process these recommendations effectively and prevent themselves from entering the proverbial echo chamber will lead to successful, sustainable organizations. Using data from multiple sources can lead to improved processes for recruiting and retaining great teams.