Three ASC leaders joined Becker's to discuss the financial losses providers are seeing in 2022:
Philip Louie, MD. Medical Director of Research and Academics at the Center for Neurosciences and Spine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (Seattle): We are seeing major health systems post astronomical financial losses in 2022. Short staffing, burnout and hospital capacity are compounding the ongoing obstacles that we struggle with as we work toward reversing these mounting losses. With growing pressures to produce financial and volume targets with limited — and temporary — resources, there will be an enormous focus on producing quantity of work. I worry that all the work that we have accomplished in building value-based care pathways, developing quality-based programs and academic pursuits to innovate will take a back seat to providing the greatest volume of care to "catch up" and race toward short-term financial goals.
Henry Goitz, MD. DMC Orthopedics and Sports Medicine (Warren, Mich.): While all aspects of reimbursements have been affected, and while COVID-19 income losses are real, it is my hope that physicians remain ethical in their care and management of our patients and realize that all of society has suffered financially. Needless to say, however, we must effectively negotiate with insurers to obtain a fair price commensurate with the service we, as surgeons, provide.
Neal Kaushal, MD. Chief of Gastroenterology and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Adventist Health (Sonora, Calif.): Healthcare executives and leaders need to understand that we are in the business of people. Not only that, but we are in the business of taking care of people. Patient care has to come first, followed by revenue and profits, not the other way around. This does not mean blank checks for healthcare expenditures with no regard for returns; rather, profits and losses must be put into context in terms of benefits to patient care and the local community, not just what they look like on the balance sheet.