Sonja Clapp, director of AdventHealth Surgery Center Shawnee Mission in Lenexa, Kan., discusses the biggest investments her center will make over the next few years.
Ms. Clapp will share her expertise as a speaker at the Becker's ASC 26th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, Oct. 24-26, 2019 in Chicago. To learn more and register, click here. For more information about exhibitor and sponsor opportunities, contact Maura Jodoin at mjodoin@beckershealthcare.com.
Question: Where do you see the best opportunity for your center's strategic growth? What areas are you investing in today?
Sonja Clapp: I am working on ENT at the moment, along with orthopedic. Some of the ENT have high disposable costs, which increases my cost per case; however, it has also increased my revenue per case.
Q: How do you see your center evolving in the future?
SC: We do a large number of ophthalmology procedures. I would like to see a separate area for these cases so we can become more efficient with room turnover. I believe we could double volumes. We should also be evolving to the total joints as these are moving toward outpatient throughout the country.
Finally, we are currently all on paper for our patient records. We need to go to an EMR. This would greatly increase our efficiency in reports and tracking operating room block time as well as surgeons' efficiency and accuracy of scheduling.
Q: What procedures or specialties do you see moving more outpatient over the next two years?
SC: I am watching the vascular procedures. Some of the cardiac procedure codes are moving outpatient, including pacemakers, carotids and cardiac catheters.
Total joints are already outpatient, but not in this area. I have been asking this question here for a couple of years and would like to see progress in this area.
Q: What challenges do you anticipate for the outpatient landscape in the future?
SC: Our area does not require a certificate of need. There are many surgery centers in our area. I see it becoming survival of the fittest. We will need to continue to look for opportunities to hold onto our market share and draw in new providers. We currently are a multispecialty facility and already are very successful. We monitor the age of our surgeons to ensure we have new, young surgeons coming in as the older ones begin to retire. It is definitely about having newer technology to draw in younger surgeons with new ideas. I have found that my cost per case may increase, but so does my revenue per case.