Administrator of Clifton (N.J.) Surgery Center Michael Graziano discusses the changing healthcare landscape and how his ASC will grow in the future.
Question: How do you see the healthcare landscape changing and what is your strategic plan to maintain success?
Michael Graziano: I see consolidation continuing throughout the industry as well as a shift toward value-based care. Continuing to improve our position in the marketplace by delivering high-quality patient care in a cost-sensitive environment is the main focus of our strategic plan. Optimizing staff scheduling and setting proper inventory par levels go a long way toward helping you contain costs and increase profitability while operating in a challenging reimbursement market.
Clearly making sure these are tracked and updated as often as possible ensures maintenance of profitability and flexibility. Secondly, identifying and implementing new and emerging technology in the healthcare space is large part of increasing our overall efficiency and provides a more consumer-friendly environment as the new members of the global workforce demand more up-to-date and immediate solutions to determine their choices for healthcare.
Lastly, making sure our physicians and staff are in serviced, trained and dedicated to creating a patient-friendly atmosphere to increase overall patient satisfaction.
Q: What do you see your center doing over the next three to five years to promote strength and sustainable growth?
MG: Physician recruitment will continue to be the No. 1 item on our list for continued success. As our current physicians age and slowdown in their private practices their volume will need to be replaced by younger physicians coming out into the workforce. Identifying and recruiting these younger physicians while they are still residents in the local hospitals has been a successful strategy to growing our physician base.
Maintaining acceptable reimbursement levels from third-party payers is also of extreme importance. Highly detailed tracking of quality outcomes as well as cost will help us to demonstrate our value to insurance providers when it comes to negotiating rates as the landscape shifts to value-based care.
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