Two ASC leaders joined Becker's to discuss the healthcare trends they are eyeing.
Editor's note: These responses were edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Amol Soin, MD. President and Medical Director of Soin Neuroscience (Dayton, Ohio): I’m keeping an eye on interest rates due to potential debt needs, the Medicare fee schedule and its impact on reimbursement and legislation affecting site of service reimbursements as there seems to be a push to move things outside of a hospital outpatient department, which could impact ASCs
Josh Troast. Director of Ambulatory Surgical Services for Muskegon (Mich.) Surgical Associates: Cost of labor. As one of the largest expenses to healthcare business, it's been a challenge to ensure adequate and competent staff are available to run clinics and procedural spaces. The reliance on medical assistants and nurses is crucial to the operation of an outpatient practice and the competition for wages has become more than just the local hospital or medical practices. With multiple industries challenging the wages and benefit packages, the competition for staff has come from both inside and outside of healthcare.
Certificate of need. The certificate of need law is not instituted in all states, but in the states where certificate of need is needed for an ASC (or other modalities), it can deter progress of needed and cost effective services. In my experience, it has required an expert in the state's certificate of need rules to interpret. This is usually in the form of an attorney, which can come with additional cost to the medical operation/practice. To satisfy the certificate of need requirements, strategies are often put in place not because it enhances care, but because it satisfies an arbitrary set of volume rules instituted by a state. Waste in process can lead to a lack of progress, ingenuity and additional cost of the healthcare system.