Trey Sampson III, administrator of Newport Beach (Calif.) Surgery Center, joined Becker's to share how he is tackling critical issues facing ASCs to ensure his practice comes out ahead.
Question: What will make or break ASCs in 2023?
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. If you would like to contribute to our next question, please email Paige Haeffele at phaeffele@beckershealthcare.com.
Trey Sampson III: ASCs continue to face significant challenges in 2023 that could make or break our success. There are four critical factors that I feel deserve the highest urgency in addressing.
One of the most critical factors is staffing challenges, which remains a major issue in 2023. With an ongoing shortage of skilled healthcare professionals, we struggle to attract and retain talented staff members. This could, and often does, lead to longer waiting times for patients and physicians on the date of service. Not only would that be poor customer service to our patients and providers, but it may lead to decreased quality of care. To succeed, ASCs must prioritize staff retention and invest in training and development programs to attract top talent.
ASCs must also struggle to manage the cost … especially concerning medical supplies and drugs. The ongoing global pandemic continues to disrupt the supply chain, causing an increase in demand for needed supplies as ASCs compete with hospital allocations. This shortage increases the possibility of canceled procedures caused by lack of supplies or increased cost for supplies we are able to procure.
Reimbursement rates will play a crucial role that can affect the financial viability of the center. Reimbursement rates have remained low for years and some ASCs are seeing moderately declining rates in 2023. This is putting significant pressure on ASCs to be proactive in reimbursement negotiations to secure more favorable rates while exploring new ways to improve our revenue cycle management processes and efficiency.
As if the above two factors are not daunting enough, ASC competition is becoming increasingly fierce as ASCs must find ways to differentiate themselves from competitors. Patients are more proactive in their healthcare than ever before and are becoming more selective in their choices of healthcare providers. They want providers who offer high-quality care at affordable prices while having a positive patient experience. This can be a tall bill to fill, but ASCs must be able to focus on delivering exceptional patient care, cease opportunities to bring newer technology to the operating room and seek new partnerships and collaborative relationships to survive.
ASCs continue to face significant challenges in 2023, but if we focus on staffing, operational expenses, reimbursement and competition, we can position ourselves for a successful year while struggling to survive in a rapidly changing outpatient service environment.