Taizoon Baxamusa, MD, is a hand and upper extremity surgeon with Illinois Bone & Joint Institute, a large orthopedic practice based in Morton Grove, Ill.
Dr. Baxamusa sees several challenges for orthopedic surgery centers today, but also big opportunity to move higher acuity cases to the outpatient setting. Here, he answers four questions about the future of his practice.
Dr. Baxamusa will share his 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: What is the biggest challenge for your orthopedic center today?
Dr. Taizoon Baxamusa: The biggest challenge to our orthopedic center today is continuing to provide cutting edge advanced medical treatment while keeping attention to reducing costs and waste. Often being the frontline providers for musculoskeletal care does reduce the middleman and waste prior to the efficient treatment.
Q: Where do you hope to grow for the next nine months?
TB: Our hopes for growth in the next nine months is to continue to expand the outpatient joint replacement and other procedures, which were traditionally done in the hospital setting.
Q: How do you approach budgeting for and selecting new technology for your center?
TB: We do a cost analysis for capital equipment purchases, which are necessary to continue to advance care within our surgery center. We look at what additional cases can be done with the additional outlay of capital expenditure, compared to the alternative of not doing those cases. We ask all physician partners who utilize the surgery center for a wish list of necessary equipment and projected increase in number of cases.
Q: What are your biggest payer challenges today?
TB: Our biggest payer challenges today are currently the increasing number of HMOs being introduced for small business owners in lieu of ACA health insurance exchange failed plans. The HMOs are restricting utilization to the hospital and forcing patients to less efficient providers, which paradoxically increase total overall costs.
To participate in future thought leadership Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.