The ASC industry is dynamic and constantly changing.
These 5 industry leaders explain what's becoming easier and more difficult about their business.
The executives featured in this article are all speaking at Becker's 21st Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC + The Future of Spine Conference which is set for June 19-22 at the Swissotel in Chicago.
If you would like to join either event as a speaker, contact Randi Haseman at rhaseman@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our roundtable. The following are answers from our speakers at the event.
Question: How is your market changing? What is getting easier, and what is harder about running your business?
Eric Schnapp. CEO of Resolve Pain Solutions: Each day physicians are pulled further away from patient care. The administrative burden on the physician and practice is such that physicians often find themselves unable to spend their time with patients. Between surmounting EHR and technology costs, infinitely challenging human resources recruitment and a retention landscape that only makes these issues more pressing, it's only logical that physicians consistently find themselves torn between patient care and running their business. What eases this is aligning with a strategic partner who specializes in managing the administrative side in the physician's specialty, enabling the physician to devote their time to providing excellent patient care.
Adam J. Bruggeman, MD. CEO and Surgeon of Texas Spine Care Center: Every day there is a new administrative challenge for my practice and those of my colleagues. Whether new prior authorization requirements or now post-procedure clawbacks, we are in a constant battle with insurance companies. In addition, I testified this past week on the latest growing challenge facing medical practices: cybersecurity.
John Brady. CEO of Fox Valley Orthopedics: Ongoing consolidation of health systems and physician practices presents challenges for specialty practices committed to remaining independent, like ours. In our area, we've seen a great deal of this in recent years. Fortunately, because of our independence, we are able to pivot more easily to changing and evolving market conditions. Our decision-making is much faster than those larger networks, so we're able to respond more proactively when needed. This helps us when negotiating contracts, capital projects and variable expense items. What has made things harder is the tightening labor market in healthcare. Many good people have left the industry or retired in recent years, taking with them a great deal of experience and knowledge. Replacing them isn't as easy as finding a new body to fill the position, rather we need to make sure we are finding people with the right skills who can bring value to our teams with less ramp up time.
Kevin Youmans. Administrator of Casper Surgical Center: The demand for surgical services is growing in our market. Physicians are scheduling more cases in ASCs because of quality of care, safety and efficiency at a lower-cost option. As the complexity of cases increases, the use of new equipment has made it more challenging to keep the procedural day on time.
Michael V. Jablonski, MD. Physician president of Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: With the continued shift of volumes and more complex orthopedic and spine cases to the outpatient setting, understanding the optimal case mix for a surgery center is critical. Understanding what investments and accompanying technologies are needed to allow for the successful shift of cases to the surgery center will be vital in the months and years ahead.
A significant impact on the business is our ability to provide anesthesia services in a cost-effective way. It requires us to consider all the elements of the surgery center in an integrated decision-making system in order to reduce waste. While staffing is improving in availability at a higher cost, it seems we are moving toward needing more people to do the same amount of work as employees seek more work-life balance and are less willing to commit hours to work.