1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,319
Are your patients looking for an easy way

2
00:00:02,319 --> 00:00:04,480
to pay for health care? Want to level

3
00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:06,639
up the way you do business? Then the

4
00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:09,199
CareCredit Health and Wellness card just might be

5
00:00:09,199 --> 00:00:09,859
the answer.

6
00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,539
For over 30 years, CareCredit, a Synchrony solution,

7
00:00:13,759 --> 00:00:16,454
has been providing patients with a modern, flexible

8
00:00:16,454 --> 00:00:18,375
way to pay for their health and wellness

9
00:00:18,375 --> 00:00:18,875
expenses.

10
00:00:19,414 --> 00:00:22,875
CareCredit seamlessly integrates with your business, helping minimize

11
00:00:23,015 --> 00:00:25,975
account receivable, all while your patients enjoy budget

12
00:00:25,975 --> 00:00:27,595
friendly financing options.

13
00:00:28,054 --> 00:00:30,214
To learn more about how CareCredit works for

14
00:00:30,214 --> 00:00:31,274
you and your patients,

15
00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:32,420
visit carecredit.comforward/beccarspodcast.

16
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:38,500
Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

17
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,840
I'm joined today by Joseph D'Agostino, ASC administrator

18
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,399
at Advanced Surgery Center Perimeter. Joseph, thank you

19
00:00:44,399 --> 00:00:45,679
so much for joining us today on the

20
00:00:45,679 --> 00:00:46,179
show.

21
00:00:46,565 --> 00:00:49,125
Appreciate it. Thank you. It's our pleasure. And

22
00:00:49,125 --> 00:00:50,725
and can you please take a moment to

23
00:00:50,725 --> 00:00:52,244
tell us a little bit about yourself, your

24
00:00:52,244 --> 00:00:53,945
background, and what you do in the industry?

25
00:00:54,405 --> 00:00:55,385
Yes. Absolutely.

26
00:00:56,245 --> 00:00:58,265
I'm currently an ASC administrator.

27
00:00:59,450 --> 00:01:01,770
Was over multiple facilities, but now it's down

28
00:01:01,770 --> 00:01:02,429
to 1.

29
00:01:02,890 --> 00:01:05,209
Both have grown tremendously over the past 2

30
00:01:05,209 --> 00:01:07,049
or 3 years, so we're very fortunate for

31
00:01:07,049 --> 00:01:07,549
that.

32
00:01:08,409 --> 00:01:10,009
I've been in my role now about 10

33
00:01:10,009 --> 00:01:12,030
years. So I've done everything from

34
00:01:12,614 --> 00:01:14,314
startup de novo ASC

35
00:01:14,935 --> 00:01:17,194
to acquisition and rebranding culture,

36
00:01:17,974 --> 00:01:20,534
and obviously all the things that, correlate with

37
00:01:20,534 --> 00:01:22,075
growth for those facilities.

38
00:01:23,415 --> 00:01:25,515
So and and not just in your organization,

39
00:01:25,575 --> 00:01:27,780
but industry wide, ASC volume,

40
00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,260
is expected to increase by 16%

41
00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:31,540
by 2032.

42
00:01:32,799 --> 00:01:34,180
You know, with this growth,

43
00:01:34,719 --> 00:01:37,040
what are the, the biggest challenges to maintaining

44
00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,140
that positive patient experience do you see?

45
00:01:40,284 --> 00:01:42,625
Yeah. The growth is great to hear about.

46
00:01:42,844 --> 00:01:44,385
Very exciting for our industry.

47
00:01:44,765 --> 00:01:47,405
And looking forward to the continued growth overall

48
00:01:47,405 --> 00:01:49,185
for all the ASCs in the industry.

49
00:01:50,045 --> 00:01:51,665
Really, it comes down to

50
00:01:52,700 --> 00:01:54,859
having the right mechanisms in place, the right

51
00:01:54,859 --> 00:01:55,359
tools.

52
00:01:56,380 --> 00:01:59,100
Obviously, we wanna deliver the highest quality patient

53
00:01:59,100 --> 00:02:01,900
outcomes. But in conjunction with that, we wanna

54
00:02:01,900 --> 00:02:03,840
make sure we are communicating appropriately,

55
00:02:04,859 --> 00:02:08,055
to those patients specifically about their estimated out

56
00:02:08,055 --> 00:02:09,435
of pocket costs. So,

57
00:02:09,974 --> 00:02:11,735
you know, we have several tools in place

58
00:02:11,735 --> 00:02:14,235
that we utilize that are very exciting.

59
00:02:15,254 --> 00:02:15,655
Right.

60
00:02:16,134 --> 00:02:16,634
So

61
00:02:17,495 --> 00:02:19,735
what strategies have worked for you and your

62
00:02:19,735 --> 00:02:22,639
organization to, you know, tackle some of these

63
00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:23,139
challenges?

64
00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,520
Like you said, the the price estimation, price

65
00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:26,020
transparency,

66
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,139
and, you know, what's a couple of recommendations

67
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,520
you have for other leaders out there to

68
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:33,375
kinda stay ahead when it comes to this?

69
00:02:34,335 --> 00:02:36,735
Yeah. It's, it's a great challenge to have.

70
00:02:36,735 --> 00:02:38,914
So I think just having those right mechanisms

71
00:02:39,694 --> 00:02:41,875
in place, like I spoke about earlier,

72
00:02:42,254 --> 00:02:44,574
our benchmark or goal as of general rule

73
00:02:44,574 --> 00:02:46,094
of thumb is to stay at least 1

74
00:02:46,094 --> 00:02:48,034
week out, notifying patients

75
00:02:48,590 --> 00:02:50,830
of their estimated out of pocket costs. So

76
00:02:50,830 --> 00:02:51,650
we do that,

77
00:02:52,189 --> 00:02:53,870
with several tools. We have a,

78
00:02:55,629 --> 00:02:58,289
software tool we use that does text messages

79
00:02:58,590 --> 00:03:00,049
as well as email communication.

80
00:03:01,185 --> 00:03:02,805
We also call every patient

81
00:03:03,344 --> 00:03:04,004
by phone

82
00:03:04,305 --> 00:03:06,724
in our front office and speak to them

83
00:03:07,185 --> 00:03:09,685
directly allowing them for questions and answers.

84
00:03:10,224 --> 00:03:10,885
I think

85
00:03:11,344 --> 00:03:14,004
having all the materials that explain the

86
00:03:14,409 --> 00:03:16,090
breakdown of the cost that they're likely to

87
00:03:16,090 --> 00:03:18,090
see is very important for patients. As we

88
00:03:18,090 --> 00:03:20,009
know, they're gonna get multiple bills, and I

89
00:03:20,009 --> 00:03:22,349
think that does create a lot of confusion,

90
00:03:22,409 --> 00:03:24,430
unfortunately, in our industry. So

91
00:03:24,969 --> 00:03:27,084
all those tools are used, I think staying

92
00:03:27,084 --> 00:03:29,324
true to our best practices of that 1

93
00:03:29,324 --> 00:03:30,245
week mark Mhmm.

94
00:03:30,844 --> 00:03:32,205
Helps us get it out there on the

95
00:03:32,205 --> 00:03:33,965
front end and then allows the patients to

96
00:03:33,965 --> 00:03:35,884
have some q and a afterwards if they

97
00:03:35,884 --> 00:03:37,645
feel the need to do so. So it

98
00:03:37,645 --> 00:03:39,340
sounds like you have a lot of, tools

99
00:03:39,340 --> 00:03:41,659
in place around that financial aspect to kinda

100
00:03:41,659 --> 00:03:43,979
help foster that trust. But I'm curious as

101
00:03:43,979 --> 00:03:45,360
well. You talked about

102
00:03:45,659 --> 00:03:47,580
the kind of culture re rebuilding that you

103
00:03:47,580 --> 00:03:48,080
did.

104
00:03:48,620 --> 00:03:49,120
Between

105
00:03:49,419 --> 00:03:52,060
that as well as those tools, you know,

106
00:03:52,060 --> 00:03:53,735
kind of how does how do those in

107
00:03:53,735 --> 00:03:56,395
combination benefit that patient provider relationship?

108
00:03:58,134 --> 00:04:00,134
Together, they have a great impact. And and

109
00:04:00,134 --> 00:04:02,155
we've seen strong evidence of this.

110
00:04:02,935 --> 00:04:04,474
For a while, we had some challenges

111
00:04:05,270 --> 00:04:06,650
tracking our patient satisfaction.

112
00:04:07,430 --> 00:04:09,669
We've made some changes with that, and it's

113
00:04:09,669 --> 00:04:10,110
been,

114
00:04:10,550 --> 00:04:13,430
a great improvement. So really just getting one

115
00:04:13,430 --> 00:04:15,770
on board and that culture of team efforts.

116
00:04:16,550 --> 00:04:18,810
It just creates a much better patient experience

117
00:04:18,870 --> 00:04:20,574
if they already know what the plan is.

118
00:04:20,574 --> 00:04:22,175
They know what they're paying on the data

119
00:04:22,175 --> 00:04:22,675
service.

120
00:04:23,134 --> 00:04:24,735
They're already coming in the door with a

121
00:04:24,735 --> 00:04:25,055
lot of,

122
00:04:25,935 --> 00:04:27,774
stuff on their mind already just thinking about

123
00:04:27,774 --> 00:04:28,754
surgery recovery.

124
00:04:29,454 --> 00:04:31,214
If it's their friend or family member, how

125
00:04:31,214 --> 00:04:33,029
are they gonna, you know, get them back

126
00:04:33,029 --> 00:04:35,509
home safely? So there's more than enough to

127
00:04:35,509 --> 00:04:37,750
worry about just with surgery in general. And

128
00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:39,990
so it's important to make sure that the

129
00:04:39,990 --> 00:04:42,169
patients have several hit points of communication

130
00:04:42,470 --> 00:04:43,930
that cover this topic.

131
00:04:44,709 --> 00:04:46,709
We also have some mechanisms on the back

132
00:04:46,709 --> 00:04:48,634
end after they get their procedure as well

133
00:04:48,634 --> 00:04:51,194
just for follow-up and and those types of

134
00:04:51,194 --> 00:04:52,574
things. So I think

135
00:04:53,435 --> 00:04:56,154
building that team culture Mhmm. And just making

136
00:04:56,154 --> 00:04:58,154
sure everyone has a mindset that we are

137
00:04:58,154 --> 00:05:00,154
in the business of patient care, and so

138
00:05:00,154 --> 00:05:01,454
that's what comes first.

139
00:05:02,830 --> 00:05:05,470
So you you talked about these conversations that

140
00:05:05,470 --> 00:05:07,629
your staff will have with patients. You know,

141
00:05:07,629 --> 00:05:08,930
obviously, one of the trickiest

142
00:05:09,470 --> 00:05:12,129
conversations to have can be around the financial

143
00:05:12,189 --> 00:05:14,350
aspect of it, insurance. A lot of those

144
00:05:14,350 --> 00:05:16,509
things can be kinda confusing for patients or

145
00:05:16,509 --> 00:05:18,705
even, like, you know, my insurance covers it,

146
00:05:18,705 --> 00:05:19,745
but this is still a lot out of

147
00:05:19,745 --> 00:05:21,665
pocket. You know? What do I do? You

148
00:05:21,665 --> 00:05:23,745
know, kinda how do you and your staff

149
00:05:23,745 --> 00:05:26,245
kind of have these conversations with patients

150
00:05:26,545 --> 00:05:28,865
so that they feel going into it and

151
00:05:28,865 --> 00:05:30,625
after the fact knowing that they know everything

152
00:05:30,625 --> 00:05:31,904
they need to know and they feel fully

153
00:05:31,904 --> 00:05:32,404
supported?

154
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,080
Yeah. So, again, I I think it's that

155
00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:36,199
team effort. Mhmm.

156
00:05:36,759 --> 00:05:38,220
We have somebody who's

157
00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:40,839
one of their sole purposes is to make

158
00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,400
sure they're communicating with every patient. That can

159
00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:45,980
be challenging, catching patients on the phone.

160
00:05:46,705 --> 00:05:48,785
So we make sure we're a week out

161
00:05:48,785 --> 00:05:50,644
to allow enough time for that. So

162
00:05:50,944 --> 00:05:52,384
so, yeah, at the root of this, I

163
00:05:52,384 --> 00:05:54,305
think, is just the culture of of the

164
00:05:54,305 --> 00:05:54,805
company

165
00:05:55,185 --> 00:05:56,944
and and how we run things. There's a

166
00:05:56,944 --> 00:05:59,444
lot that goes into our structure and organization.

167
00:06:01,129 --> 00:06:02,569
You know, we're all on the same team,

168
00:06:02,569 --> 00:06:05,850
patient basically, patient care advocates. And so I

169
00:06:05,850 --> 00:06:08,810
think that is very helpful with Mhmm. With

170
00:06:08,810 --> 00:06:09,550
our success.

171
00:06:10,410 --> 00:06:10,910
Again,

172
00:06:11,290 --> 00:06:13,689
checking in all the mechanisms we have, making

173
00:06:13,689 --> 00:06:15,389
sure everything's in place and,

174
00:06:16,185 --> 00:06:17,704
just kind of putting it out there that

175
00:06:17,704 --> 00:06:19,944
the patients have a way to reach out

176
00:06:19,944 --> 00:06:22,425
to us, whether it's email, text message, by

177
00:06:22,425 --> 00:06:24,284
phone, even after hours.

178
00:06:24,824 --> 00:06:26,664
We have a mechanism that captures that as

179
00:06:26,664 --> 00:06:28,584
well. So anytime they might have a concern,

180
00:06:28,584 --> 00:06:30,904
we wanna make sure we respond and address

181
00:06:30,904 --> 00:06:31,404
it.

182
00:06:31,759 --> 00:06:33,060
So the ASC environment,

183
00:06:33,519 --> 00:06:34,879
has to be very exciting to work in

184
00:06:34,879 --> 00:06:36,639
right now as it it's a lot's changing

185
00:06:36,639 --> 00:06:38,879
very fast. What would you say your biggest

186
00:06:38,879 --> 00:06:40,879
piece of advice for other leaders in the

187
00:06:40,879 --> 00:06:42,180
ASC space would be?

188
00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:44,819
I think stay ahead if you can,

189
00:06:45,199 --> 00:06:48,045
especially knowing the growth that's coming down the

190
00:06:48,045 --> 00:06:48,545
pipeline.

191
00:06:49,165 --> 00:06:51,324
And, you know, if you have a process

192
00:06:51,324 --> 00:06:53,404
in place that's no longer working, we've had

193
00:06:53,404 --> 00:06:55,404
to make several changes over the past few

194
00:06:55,404 --> 00:06:57,504
years with a lot of our processes. So

195
00:06:57,645 --> 00:06:59,745
we wanna make sure we're pivoting and reacting

196
00:06:59,805 --> 00:07:00,240
to what's

197
00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,800
incoming. And if something that worked a year

198
00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:04,959
ago doesn't work today, how are we gonna

199
00:07:04,959 --> 00:07:06,979
make it better and make that change? So

200
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,199
really just looking at your playbook, making sure

201
00:07:09,199 --> 00:07:11,439
it's stacked with the appropriate plays that, you

202
00:07:11,439 --> 00:07:13,300
know, can make that a positive impact.

203
00:07:13,925 --> 00:07:15,865
Right. I like the football analogy there.

204
00:07:16,245 --> 00:07:16,985
Thank you.

205
00:07:17,365 --> 00:07:19,204
Well, Joseph, thank you so much for your

206
00:07:19,204 --> 00:07:20,725
time today. But before I let you go,

207
00:07:20,884 --> 00:07:22,324
do you have any final thoughts you'd like

208
00:07:22,324 --> 00:07:23,305
to leave with our listeners?

209
00:07:24,964 --> 00:07:27,310
I think, you know, again, it's we kinda

210
00:07:27,310 --> 00:07:29,230
been in the industry a while, so it's

211
00:07:29,230 --> 00:07:31,569
an exciting time. We're definitely on the upswing.

212
00:07:31,710 --> 00:07:32,210
So

213
00:07:32,590 --> 00:07:34,129
just check your processes

214
00:07:34,590 --> 00:07:35,490
and your methodology

215
00:07:35,949 --> 00:07:37,250
and just stay ahead.

216
00:07:37,629 --> 00:07:40,029
It's not just getting the patient satisfaction scores

217
00:07:40,029 --> 00:07:41,595
we desire, but just

218
00:07:41,995 --> 00:07:43,295
ensuring the overall

219
00:07:44,154 --> 00:07:46,634
communication is there. We've had feedback not just

220
00:07:46,634 --> 00:07:48,954
through the surveys, but by word-of-mouth, from our

221
00:07:48,954 --> 00:07:49,935
surgeon's offices,

222
00:07:50,555 --> 00:07:53,194
from their staff, from patients directly. We've even

223
00:07:53,194 --> 00:07:55,579
had patients buy us lunch out of a

224
00:07:55,579 --> 00:07:56,399
thank you

225
00:07:56,860 --> 00:07:58,459
and how great care of them that we

226
00:07:58,459 --> 00:08:00,079
took. So those types of things

227
00:08:00,379 --> 00:08:02,540
really speak highly. Right. Right. Right. Give me

228
00:08:02,540 --> 00:08:04,220
that confidence that I know we're doing a

229
00:08:04,220 --> 00:08:05,740
great job, and we have a strong system

230
00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:07,740
in place. Mhmm. That's awesome about the the

231
00:08:07,740 --> 00:08:09,254
buying you lunch. That's really cool.

232
00:08:10,134 --> 00:08:11,814
Well, Joseph, again, thank you so much for

233
00:08:11,814 --> 00:08:13,334
joining us on the show today. I hope

234
00:08:13,334 --> 00:08:14,535
you have a great rest of your day.

235
00:08:14,535 --> 00:08:15,915
Thank you. I appreciate it.