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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
podcast, and we are live at the business
and operations
of ASCs.
I'm currently joined by Sheila Thompson,
who is the chief operating officer at Twin
Cities Pain Clinics and Surgery Centers. So, Sheila,
thanks so much for joining me today. Would
love to start off by having you introduce
yourself and telling us a little bit more
about your work in the industry. Great. Thank
you so much for having me. Happy Halloween.
I am Sheila Thompson, like you said, and
I've been in health care now for over
half my life, which is hard for me
to say, but I've been in the ASC
space for the last
13 years. I was emergency room nurse for
the first 16 years of my career. So
moving into the ASC, I was hired,
8 years ago to open the very first
surgery center for a private practice pain physician
who had 3 clinics. And I opened his
first ASC, and we are currently sitting at
6 clinics,
2 ASCs, and a third ASC opening up
this next month.
Wonderful. Well, congratulations,
and thanks for joining me.
Let's start our conversation talking about ASC volume.
So countrywide, this is expected to increase by
16%
by the year 2032.
With this growth, what is the most pressing
challenge to maintaining a positive patient experience?
Yeah. I would say the biggest thing is
the volume of patients coming into the practice,
being efficient,
and then having staffing to support that efficiency.
So a lot of times, if your staffing
is lacking, you're going to be move patient
the patient experience isn't gonna be there. So
we thought outside the box and I and
hired, nursing assistants to help transition patients through
the process
efficiently, but also giving them good patient care
throughout their visit at the ASC.
A 100%. And and going along with that,
what strategies have worked for your organization to
tackle
some of these challenges that you're discussing? And
what's one recommendation you have for health care
leaders to stay ahead of those challenges?
Yeah. So our biggest challenges are staffing,
our payroll, our prior prior authorization. I we
have we have challenges every day. I feel
like the landscape is constantly changing,
and we have to be changing with it
and thinking outside the box and being creative
and how we're gonna meet these challenges.
It's great to come to conferences like this
and and, you know, talk to others and,
you know,
formulate plans and be able to give advice
and also be able to learn from
all of us are going through the same
thing. So it's just it's really nice to
be able to forward think. That's gonna be
a big part of it because
it's not a stagnant industry anymore by any
means. So
Absolutely. And shifting gears just a little bit
toward the financial side, how can leaders ensure
their staff are well equipped to help patients
navigate the financial aspects of their care? And
how does this benefit patient provider relationships?
Yeah. So I I think the the financial
piece has also been a a challenge over
the past years with increased deductibles,
increased co pays,
inflation.
Our patient population
has financial challenges in the pain industry. So
getting that financial phone call and being upfront
so that they're not surprised or upset when
they receive that bill. We're all inclusive. So
they get the pro fee, the facility fee,
and the anesthesia fee. And
really talking through that and explaining that because
most of our population just does not understand
it.
And is there any closing
remarks or anything else you'd like to share
on the podcast today? Thank you for this
opportunity. I really appreciate it. It was kind
of fun to do this. I think
that being able to talk about the challenges
and also talk about some of the opportunities
for improvement is just something that I'm passionate
about and happy to share.
Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for taking
the time to be here. Again, we are
live at the business and operations of ASC's
event. Thanks so much. Thank you.