ASC Physician Engagement: Tips for Communicating With Physician Owners

At the 20th Annual Ambulatory Surgery Centers Conference in Chicago on Oct. 24, Scott Becker, JD, CPA, publisher of Becker’s ASC Review and chairman of the healthcare department at McGuireWoods, moderated a panel discussion on best practices for engaging physician owners.

"I spend most of my time on physician relationships," said Michael Patterson, president and CEO, Mississippi Valley Health in Davenport, Iowa, a 25-physician practice that operates the only independent surgery center in the state. To Mr. Peters, physician relationships and ensuring physician owners bring the maximum amount of cases to the center, is top of mind.

Recruiting new physicians to add cases, and to buffer the impact of older physicians reducing their case loads, is also a main objective. "My top four guys took one week of vacation every month," he explained, which caused the center's volume to take a hit.

To counter this, his center focuses on both attracting new physicians and attracting more cases from physician owners.

Kenny Hancock, president and chief development officer of Meridian Surgical Partners, agrees. "[Recruiting] is a constant focus. We identify recruits by center, and we work that," he said, adding, though, the "easiest way to grow today is by [attracting] the current ownership’s cases currently done in other locations."

Mr. Becker asked the panelists which physicians, among center owners, are most important to engage.

"I spend a lot of time with the top producers and also spend a lot of time with those with the top potentials – a couple young general surgeons and ENTs,” said Mr.  Patterson.
Darlene Johnson, RN, BSN, MSN, CASC, of Healthcare Consultants International and an advisor to surgery centers, also spends most of her time with physicians with high potential. “My top producers don’t need a lot of time, so I spend my most time on those with the most potential," she said.

Gary Richberg, RN, ALNC, administrator at Pacific Rim Outpatient Surgery Center in Bellingham, Wash., agrees that constant communication with physicians is critical. "I speak to the physicians every day," he said.

Mr. Richberg explained he always highlights a few areas in his discussions with physicians — areas he said are "common denominators" for both physicians and administrators. These include quality, compliance and profitability.