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
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,719
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

17
00:00:38,719 --> 00:00:40,479
podcast, and we are live at the business

18
00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:42,179
and operations of ASCs.

19
00:00:42,799 --> 00:00:45,135
I am joined right now by doctor Earl

20
00:00:45,135 --> 00:00:47,795
Kilbride, who is a surgeon at Austin Orthopedic

21
00:00:47,855 --> 00:00:50,255
Institute. So, doctor Kilbride, thanks for joining me

22
00:00:50,255 --> 00:00:51,855
today. We'd love to have you start off

23
00:00:51,855 --> 00:00:54,094
by introducing yourself and talking a little bit

24
00:00:54,094 --> 00:00:56,115
more about your role in the industry.

25
00:00:56,655 --> 00:00:58,515
Yes. So I'm an orthopedic surgeon.

26
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,759
Grew up in Louisiana. I did all my

27
00:01:00,759 --> 00:01:03,179
training in Texas. I've been in Austin

28
00:01:03,559 --> 00:01:05,500
since August of 2002,

29
00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,640
did a fellowship, had a short stay out

30
00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:09,879
in California with doctor Steve Snyder, but other

31
00:01:09,879 --> 00:01:11,899
than that, I've been in Austin since then.

32
00:01:12,465 --> 00:01:14,944
My role in the industry is, I'm an

33
00:01:14,944 --> 00:01:17,344
orthopedic surgeon, so I see patients. I take

34
00:01:17,344 --> 00:01:19,125
care of patients. I do plenty of surgery.

35
00:01:19,905 --> 00:01:21,825
Wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to be

36
00:01:21,825 --> 00:01:24,545
here. And let's start our conversation today with

37
00:01:24,545 --> 00:01:28,060
ASC volume. So countrywide, this is expected to

38
00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:29,280
increase by 16%

39
00:01:29,819 --> 00:01:30,959
by the year 2032.

40
00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:34,140
With this growth expected, what are the most

41
00:01:34,140 --> 00:01:37,359
pressing challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience?

42
00:01:37,980 --> 00:01:40,935
Yes. If you'll get patient satisfaction scores across

43
00:01:40,935 --> 00:01:44,075
the board, patients that go through ASCs are

44
00:01:44,215 --> 00:01:47,094
really much more happy than patients that go

45
00:01:47,094 --> 00:01:49,575
through big hospital systems. It's just more personal

46
00:01:49,575 --> 00:01:52,135
care. It's quicker in and out. It's lower

47
00:01:52,135 --> 00:01:54,769
cost. And so I think as we get

48
00:01:54,769 --> 00:01:57,670
busier and do more complex cases and Medicare

49
00:01:57,729 --> 00:01:59,729
increases the CPT codes that we can do

50
00:01:59,729 --> 00:02:02,049
in the center, I think that the surgery

51
00:02:02,049 --> 00:02:03,989
centers have to scale this appropriately.

52
00:02:04,450 --> 00:02:05,890
The last thing we wanna do on the

53
00:02:05,890 --> 00:02:08,775
ASC level is become an inpatient hospital, again,

54
00:02:08,775 --> 00:02:11,175
back to the patient satisfaction scores. And I

55
00:02:11,175 --> 00:02:13,414
think that starts even with the person answering

56
00:02:13,414 --> 00:02:14,715
the phones in the office

57
00:02:15,094 --> 00:02:17,354
where the intent is we're gonna

58
00:02:17,655 --> 00:02:19,914
maintain your episode of care on an outpatient

59
00:02:19,974 --> 00:02:22,879
basis from the initial visit through the surgery

60
00:02:22,939 --> 00:02:23,439
postoperatively.

61
00:02:24,379 --> 00:02:25,979
And so as long as everyone's on the

62
00:02:25,979 --> 00:02:27,579
same page, I think we can scale it

63
00:02:27,579 --> 00:02:28,079
appropriately.

64
00:02:30,139 --> 00:02:33,199
And what strategies have worked for your organization

65
00:02:33,340 --> 00:02:34,799
to tackle these challenges?

66
00:02:35,145 --> 00:02:37,064
And what's one recommendation you have for health

67
00:02:37,064 --> 00:02:38,685
care leaders to stay ahead of them?

68
00:02:39,305 --> 00:02:40,125
Yeah. So

69
00:02:40,504 --> 00:02:42,264
I I think the strategy and it's a

70
00:02:42,264 --> 00:02:44,585
difficult one. The hospitals have sort of the

71
00:02:44,585 --> 00:02:46,504
same strategy. You have to right size this

72
00:02:46,504 --> 00:02:48,585
team. You you can't have a 100 people

73
00:02:48,585 --> 00:02:50,764
when the need is only 50 FTEs.

74
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,219
You can't have 25 people when the needs

75
00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:54,259
50 FTEs.

76
00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:56,560
And so you have to by rightsizing the

77
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,120
team, rightsizing the message, it gets everybody on

78
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:00,019
the same page.

79
00:03:00,479 --> 00:03:02,979
If you take, for instance, outpatient total joints,

80
00:03:03,039 --> 00:03:04,659
that is a system approach,

81
00:03:05,175 --> 00:03:07,094
again, from the start of the episode of

82
00:03:07,094 --> 00:03:09,175
care all the way through the surgery, post

83
00:03:09,175 --> 00:03:10,614
op care, and so we have to make

84
00:03:10,614 --> 00:03:12,555
sure that everybody's on the same page.

85
00:03:13,254 --> 00:03:15,094
And switching gears just a little bit toward

86
00:03:15,094 --> 00:03:17,574
the financial side, how can leaders ensure their

87
00:03:17,574 --> 00:03:20,090
staff are well equipped to help patients navigate

88
00:03:20,090 --> 00:03:22,650
the financial aspects of care, and how does

89
00:03:22,650 --> 00:03:25,069
this benefit patient provider relationships?

90
00:03:26,409 --> 00:03:26,909
So

91
00:03:27,450 --> 00:03:29,610
a lot of us became physicians or health

92
00:03:29,610 --> 00:03:32,090
care providers because we don't like dealing with

93
00:03:32,090 --> 00:03:33,870
collecting money. And so I think,

94
00:03:34,575 --> 00:03:37,215
unfortunately, payments out of pocket are a part

95
00:03:37,215 --> 00:03:39,295
of medicine nowadays. And so I think what

96
00:03:39,295 --> 00:03:41,135
we have to do again is be consistent

97
00:03:41,135 --> 00:03:41,875
with the message.

98
00:03:42,254 --> 00:03:42,754
ASCs

99
00:03:43,055 --> 00:03:46,754
compared to surgical hospitals compared to big inpatient

100
00:03:46,895 --> 00:03:50,240
hospitals, the cost progressively increases, and patients need

101
00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,480
to understand that that as long as we're

102
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,400
able to provide the same level of care

103
00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,199
with higher patient satisfaction scores, there's a cost

104
00:03:57,199 --> 00:04:00,240
to that, and patients understand that. But ASC

105
00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:01,699
is still the cheapest option.

106
00:04:02,514 --> 00:04:04,675
And as we wrap our conversation, I'd love

107
00:04:04,675 --> 00:04:06,514
to hear any closing remarks you have to

108
00:04:06,514 --> 00:04:07,974
share for the podcast today.

109
00:04:08,514 --> 00:04:10,675
Yeah. So I think, in the end, we're

110
00:04:10,675 --> 00:04:12,835
all taking care of patients. That's our primary

111
00:04:12,835 --> 00:04:14,754
goal. One way we look at it is

112
00:04:14,754 --> 00:04:16,274
we look at various things. We look at

113
00:04:16,274 --> 00:04:19,029
things like infection rates, admissions to hospitals,

114
00:04:19,330 --> 00:04:21,889
but in the end, patient satisfaction scores are

115
00:04:21,889 --> 00:04:23,970
a good measure as any. And so we

116
00:04:23,970 --> 00:04:25,889
we have to be patient centered. We have

117
00:04:25,889 --> 00:04:27,410
to listen to the patients. We have to

118
00:04:27,410 --> 00:04:29,970
take the patients to the appropriate facility to

119
00:04:29,970 --> 00:04:32,550
get the appropriate surgery. We can't force everyone

120
00:04:32,894 --> 00:04:34,735
into a square box if it's a round

121
00:04:34,735 --> 00:04:36,735
hole. If the case needs to go to

122
00:04:36,735 --> 00:04:38,175
ASC, we should take it to ASC. If

123
00:04:38,175 --> 00:04:39,295
it needs to go to the hospital, we

124
00:04:39,295 --> 00:04:41,055
need to take it to the hospital. Just

125
00:04:41,055 --> 00:04:42,435
have the patient at the center.

126
00:04:43,294 --> 00:04:45,454
Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for joining me

127
00:04:45,454 --> 00:04:48,089
today, doctor Kilbride, on the Becker's Healthcare podcast.

128
00:04:48,089 --> 00:04:50,990
Again, we're live at the business and operations

129
00:04:51,050 --> 00:04:53,790
of ASC's event. Thanks. Thank you.