Mark Mineo, director of Williamsville, N.Y.-based Millard Fillmore Surgery Center, spoke with Becker's ASC Review on the biggest outside disruptor to the industry and ASCs' struggles to retain staff.
Question: What outside force do you see as the biggest disrupter of the ASC industry? Why?
Mark Mineo: The outside force that has been the biggest disruption has been the federal stimulus and the weekly increase to unemployment benefits.
It is hard to not only hire but retain positions and people when their salaries are close to or are superseded by unemployment, plus the stimulus. This is driving up the cost of these positions, which, in the past, tended to be lower-cost labor. Now positions that are licensed and or certified are making only a few dollars more than these positions [janitorial and sterile processing department] that require minimal or no education.
As the market continues down this road, it seems that more individuals are jumping around where more money is offered. This causes both instability and, again, more increase in costs.