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This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's healthcare

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podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be joined by Todd

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Currier,

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administrator and CEO at Bend Surgery Center. Todd,

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it's a pleasure to have you on the

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podcast today. Thank you, Laura.

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Now I'm looking forward to our conversation. I

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know we're gonna dig into some big topics

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looking at ASC growth and development and some

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of the cool things you're doing at Bend.

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But before we dive in, I was wondering,

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can you please take a moment to introduce

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yourself and tell us a little bit more

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about your work in the industry?

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You bet. As you stated, my name is

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Todd Currier, and

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work at Bend Surgery Center. And we are

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a large ASC in Bend, Oregon. We have

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8 ORs and 6 procedure rooms.

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We've expanded a few years ago to get

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to that point, so we're still on the

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expansion stage of,

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case volume. But I also serve on the

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Oregon

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ASC Association board and also the ASCA board.

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Fantastic. And, you know, 2 very important organizations

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from the Oregon ASC Association and ASCA, really,

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you know, doing a lot for the industry.

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So thank you for your service there.

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Now I know ASC volume across the country

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is expected to increase by around 16%

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by 2,032 or so. With this growth in

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mind, what are some of the most pressing

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challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience?

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I think one of the biggest challenges we're

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facing, that everybody's facing, is just the shortage

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of clinical staff and anesthesia providers. That's our

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our current needs.

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But with the anticipated growth, we will need

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to continue to work on the efficiency of

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our processes while maintaining

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a strong patient experience.

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I think reminding and educating our staff of

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the culture of ASCs, the reason we exist,

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and the benefits we provide to the community

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are essential in making

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the patient experience the best it can be.

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That's such a good point. And, you know,

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I think having that ability to put resources

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into the patient experience is not

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a luxury or something that surgery centers have

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always thought about. And so, you know, when

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you may not have a huge budget for

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some of those things, what can you do,

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to really ensure that, you know, you are

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on the right track, some things to start

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off with, and then as you grow, can

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continue to invest in that space? Like, what

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we've done is we've created a nickname that

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the culture club. Yes. But it's a staff

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led group that is focused on, you know,

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that's focused on staff morale, but also events

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that will,

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overall lead to educating our staff about the

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patient experience and the patient process.

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And so,

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looking at it as

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under the

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umbrella that you are the patient and you

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know, think about what your experience would be

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if you walk through our facility and, you

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know, take that personal aspect of

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the the overall,

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encounter

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and internalize it.

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I think that's helped out a lot of

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their staff to be able to go through

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that.

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It seems like a really powerful way to

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boil up some of the potential challenges and

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then be able to solve them in in

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short order. So I appreciate you sharing that

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with us. Now what are some of the

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challenges,

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and strategies that have worked for you, your

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organization to tackle these challenges?

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What's one of the recommendations you have for

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healthcare leaders to stay ahead?

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I think

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one main strategy we're using is really focusing

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on, you know, kind of that service industry

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aspect. You know, the whole, you know, treating

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the patient as you would like to be

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treated yourself when you're a patient.

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But probably how we do that is related

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to monitoring our survey results

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and,

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giving that feedback back to our staff, you

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know, both the positive and the negatives when

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we there's a negative comment because,

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every single

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comment is,

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is worthy of exploring why somebody,

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commented that way. They took the time to

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make a comment. So it was a positive

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comment, you know, what did we do? Did

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we do anything different for that patient or

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it's a negative comment?

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Let's dive into it. What made it a

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negative experience? Is it something indicative of what

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we're doing or is this just a one

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off situation? But even those one off situations,

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it

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you you really don't want those out in

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the community.

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Mhmm. And so you need to figure out,

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you know, what happened on that particular case,

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reaching out to those those

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patients to ensure that,

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you know, that experience that will will not

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happen again.

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That's such a great point. You know, it's

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so important to have those community connections when

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I know so much of what the ASC

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does in growth comes from word-of-mouth and the

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reputation within the community. So,

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I appreciate, you know, the work that it

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must take in order to answer those and

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address,

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the challenges as well as think through, you

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know, the, the positive notes in what you

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can do to double down there. I I

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think,

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one of the things our culture club developed

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was it really worked on our vision

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and values.

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And one of the values and came out

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was the service we provide to our community.

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And that that was a staff led,

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program. And so they're they're really focused on

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what we do for our community and whether

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that's just the internal patient experience, but also

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what's happening in our community on on the

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external side.

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That's really great to hear and I was

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just gonna ask about anything you change as

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a result of any of these initiatives and

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so that's

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cool to hear that you're able to take

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really actionable steps based on the observations and

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the culture club, as well as some of

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the other things that you're working through.

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Now, how can leaders ensure that their staff

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are well trained and equipped to help patients

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navigate,

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especially the financial aspects of their care? I

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I know, you know, the health care economics

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are always changing,

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and and for surgery centers in particular, you

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don't wanna leave, any money on the table,

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but you still need a great experience for

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the patients, you know, when it comes to,

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the payment process. So what does that look

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like for you?

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You know, I don't I don't really think

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nothing's

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new here. Patients really need to be educated

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about their own insurance plans they have. That's

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really they don't understand the plans they have.

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A lot of plans now are the higher

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deductibles,

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higher co pays.

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And so really

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going through the process

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of educating them on what their plan provides,

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and it helps soften the blow of what

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a financial impact might be. You know, they

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may owe

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a a larger portion to the surgery center,

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and,

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they may be upset about that, probably rightfully

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so. You know, it's it's hard to come

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up with some of the the the money

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that might be owed, but it's also educating

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them that it's not us as much as

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what their plan is offering.

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And so I I think it's a big

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component. It's something that over the years we've

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we've had to focus more on. Mhmm.

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Absolutely.

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And, you know, when you think about that

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being able to work through, you know, some

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of those dynamics, obviously,

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it's their health plan, but, you know, you're

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the people in front of them having to

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to explain all this to them. So how

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do you build that relationship? How does that

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benefit, you know, the patient provider relationships and

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being able to have that level of trust

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or that level of,

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care in the approach to these con conversations?

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I I think it's really just the honesty

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approach. You know, this is this is what

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your plan provides. This is something we'll work

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with you through this process so that you

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fully understand,

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what is happening. And I think the biggest

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part is, being honest with the patient

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and following through with what their plan provides,

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walking them through the steps,

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allowing them to,

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express

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how they feel about it and then working

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on if there's a payment arrangement we can

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work out, that's what we work towards. That's

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great to hear. Now, is there anything else

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that we didn't talk about that you'd like

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to add? Anything you feel is really important

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for ASC leaders to know and understand, especially

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especially as they're thinking about the future and,

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you know, things are always changing within the

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health care space. And so I would love

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to just open it up. Anything else you'd

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like to mention?

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I guess for me, going into the future,

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I truly believe we all need to be

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actively engaged in advocacy for our ASC associations.

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ASC associations.

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We can't afford to sit on the sidelines

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and let bureaucracy

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take over or be dictated

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without providing a voice for our industry.

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You know, ASCs, as has been said many

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times, you know, we have a great story

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to tell, and we need to keep telling

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it. You know, with our phenomenal patient quality,

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our lower infection

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risk,

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higher patient satisfaction,

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and lower cost,

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you know, we have to keep telling that

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story to the community,

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to our legislators.

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It

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sometimes get repetitive, but we need to also

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understand that

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the if we if we stay silent, things

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will, you know, be dictated by others. And

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we we have to stand up and say,

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you know, we we deserve

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reasonable reimbursement rates. You know, our staffing costs

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have increased exponentially

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over the last few years.

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And, you know, the cost of inflation for

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the supply cost, the materials, that's increased exponentially,

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and the reimbursement rates have not followed.

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And so it's something that

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everybody it takes everybody to be to be

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involved in advocacy. And so I encourage everybody

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to step up, reach out to whether it's

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your state association packs or the national pack.

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It's something that we need to be involved

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with.

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That's such a great point and a great

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note to end on, Todd. Thank you so

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much for joining us on the podcast today.

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I appreciate your time and and definitely learned

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a lot. Look forward to connecting with you

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again soon. Yeah. Thank you, Laura.