Jessica Rodriguez serves as administrator at OAM Surgery Center at Midtowne in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ms. Rodriguez will serve on the panel "Benchmarking: How to Utilize Data to Drive Efficiency and Profitability" at Becker's 19th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place in Chicago from June 16-18.
To learn more and register, click here.
Question: What issues are you spending most of your time on today?
Jessica Rodriguez: Most of my time is spent on payer negotiations and payer issues. I spend more time negotiating (fighting) with payers than I ever expected in this role.
Q: What are your top challenges and how will they change over the next 12 months?
JR: Staffing has been a big challenge for most centers over the last 12 months and likely for the foreseeable future. The payment landscape for ASC is another big challenge that we face. Costs are going up exponentially, but we are not seeing a corresponding increase in reimbursement.
Q: How are you thinking about investments and growth in the next two years?
JR: The ASC industry is poised for huge amounts of growth over the next two years. If COVID did anything good, it is that patients and physicians both realized the advantages surgery in an ASC has over a hospital.