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
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:38,880
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

17
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:40,880
podcast, and we are live at the business

18
00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:42,659
and operations of ASCs.

19
00:00:43,359 --> 00:00:46,000
I'm currently joined by Tina Petrovski who serves

20
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,375
as the CEO of Copper Ridge Surgery Center.

21
00:00:48,375 --> 00:00:50,534
So, Tina, thank you for joining me today,

22
00:00:50,534 --> 00:00:52,135
and we'd love to have you start off

23
00:00:52,135 --> 00:00:54,375
by introducing yourself and telling us a little

24
00:00:54,375 --> 00:00:56,635
bit more about your role in this space.

25
00:00:56,935 --> 00:00:59,015
Sure. Thank you, Grace. Thank you for the

26
00:00:59,015 --> 00:01:00,554
opportunity to be here today.

27
00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:03,989
Yes, I have been in the ASC industry.

28
00:01:03,989 --> 00:01:05,530
This is my 20th year

29
00:01:06,150 --> 00:01:08,549
and for nearly the past decade, I have

30
00:01:08,549 --> 00:01:10,489
been in an administrative role.

31
00:01:10,869 --> 00:01:13,369
I have been certified as a

32
00:01:14,015 --> 00:01:16,575
administrator in the surgery center with the cast

33
00:01:16,575 --> 00:01:17,075
designation.

34
00:01:17,454 --> 00:01:20,354
I've also served on the Michigan Ambulatory Surgery

35
00:01:20,734 --> 00:01:23,234
Association board. I am currently the past president.

36
00:01:24,334 --> 00:01:26,415
Wonderful. Well, thank you for being here. And

37
00:01:26,415 --> 00:01:29,240
let's start our conversation today talking about ASC

38
00:01:29,380 --> 00:01:32,340
volume. So this is expected to increase all

39
00:01:32,340 --> 00:01:34,040
over the country by 16%

40
00:01:34,579 --> 00:01:35,799
by the year 2032.

41
00:01:36,740 --> 00:01:38,900
With this growth, what are the most pressing

42
00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:41,719
challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience?

43
00:01:42,795 --> 00:01:44,254
Grace, as you know, communication

44
00:01:44,715 --> 00:01:45,215
is

45
00:01:45,674 --> 00:01:49,215
essential in maintaining a positive patient experience. And

46
00:01:49,275 --> 00:01:51,694
as your center is facing growth,

47
00:01:52,155 --> 00:01:54,495
perhaps you're adding new physicians,

48
00:01:54,954 --> 00:01:55,694
new procedures,

49
00:01:56,715 --> 00:01:57,775
new service lines,

50
00:01:58,109 --> 00:02:00,430
good problems to have, but that also does

51
00:02:00,430 --> 00:02:01,890
put a layer of organizational

52
00:02:02,270 --> 00:02:02,770
stress

53
00:02:03,310 --> 00:02:05,250
on your team and on your center.

54
00:02:05,549 --> 00:02:08,909
Perhaps you're going through some physical expansion as

55
00:02:08,909 --> 00:02:10,849
well to accommodate your growth,

56
00:02:11,310 --> 00:02:12,610
and you might have,

57
00:02:13,069 --> 00:02:15,044
to increase your communication

58
00:02:15,424 --> 00:02:16,884
ahead of time for your patients,

59
00:02:17,504 --> 00:02:18,004
including

60
00:02:18,384 --> 00:02:21,044
things on your website, if you're undergoing construction,

61
00:02:22,625 --> 00:02:24,704
the pardon my dust signs that you might

62
00:02:24,704 --> 00:02:26,484
want to strategically place

63
00:02:26,944 --> 00:02:29,639
to keep that communication up. And then also

64
00:02:30,039 --> 00:02:32,919
just making sure that your team and everyone

65
00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:33,819
in the center

66
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,319
is speaking the same message to our staff,

67
00:02:37,319 --> 00:02:38,539
because as they're

68
00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:39,900
wanting to see

69
00:02:40,439 --> 00:02:43,479
the increased growth in bringing new patients and

70
00:02:43,479 --> 00:02:45,435
new service lines to your surgery center,

71
00:02:45,914 --> 00:02:47,995
they also need to have the resources to

72
00:02:47,995 --> 00:02:50,235
effectively still do their job on a day

73
00:02:50,235 --> 00:02:51,134
to day basis.

74
00:02:51,914 --> 00:02:53,594
You also want to make sure that the

75
00:02:53,594 --> 00:02:54,495
patient satisfaction,

76
00:02:54,875 --> 00:02:57,055
you know, stays high so that you're informing

77
00:02:57,114 --> 00:02:58,735
patients of their wait times,

78
00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:01,659
informing family members of their wait times if

79
00:03:01,659 --> 00:03:02,719
there's been delays

80
00:03:03,260 --> 00:03:05,900
and really just focusing on any area of

81
00:03:05,900 --> 00:03:07,599
communication that you can to

82
00:03:08,060 --> 00:03:08,560
positively

83
00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:10,800
impact the patient experience.

84
00:03:12,465 --> 00:03:14,465
And kind of going off of that, what

85
00:03:14,465 --> 00:03:17,185
strategies have worked for your organization to tackle

86
00:03:17,185 --> 00:03:19,745
some of these challenges, and what's one recommendation

87
00:03:19,745 --> 00:03:21,504
you have for health care leaders to stay

88
00:03:21,504 --> 00:03:22,004
ahead?

89
00:03:22,544 --> 00:03:23,604
Yeah. Great question.

90
00:03:23,949 --> 00:03:25,949
One of the things that we did several

91
00:03:25,949 --> 00:03:29,250
years ago is we formed a patient satisfaction

92
00:03:29,549 --> 00:03:30,049
committee.

93
00:03:30,590 --> 00:03:31,090
And

94
00:03:31,549 --> 00:03:34,349
this is where, we have representatives from various

95
00:03:34,349 --> 00:03:36,049
departments, clinical and nonclinical,

96
00:03:36,754 --> 00:03:37,814
and they meet quarterly.

97
00:03:38,435 --> 00:03:40,275
And what we do is we look at

98
00:03:40,275 --> 00:03:43,395
some of our patient satisfaction comments, some other

99
00:03:43,395 --> 00:03:43,895
results,

100
00:03:44,594 --> 00:03:44,995
any,

101
00:03:45,555 --> 00:03:47,955
occurrences that may have happened that,

102
00:03:48,354 --> 00:03:50,615
we had to follow-up on if a patient

103
00:03:51,180 --> 00:03:53,120
had a complaint about something,

104
00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:55,360
and how can we

105
00:03:56,060 --> 00:03:56,879
con continuously

106
00:03:57,259 --> 00:03:59,120
improve and make process improvements

107
00:03:59,580 --> 00:04:02,699
in patient satisfaction. So this has been a

108
00:04:02,699 --> 00:04:04,879
really highly engaged team,

109
00:04:05,555 --> 00:04:07,634
and we've rolled out a lot of different,

110
00:04:08,675 --> 00:04:09,175
initiatives

111
00:04:09,555 --> 00:04:11,814
to constantly improve our patient satisfaction,

112
00:04:12,514 --> 00:04:15,735
including a focus on pediatric patient satisfaction

113
00:04:16,355 --> 00:04:19,139
and how to best improve the patient experience

114
00:04:19,439 --> 00:04:20,819
for our youngest population.

115
00:04:22,319 --> 00:04:25,120
As far as a recommendation for healthcare leaders

116
00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,919
to stay ahead, I would say that, you

117
00:04:27,919 --> 00:04:29,779
know, just embrace change.

118
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,535
It's a constant certainly in healthcare and in

119
00:04:32,535 --> 00:04:33,274
our environment.

120
00:04:33,975 --> 00:04:36,375
And, you know, welcome new ideas and feedback

121
00:04:36,375 --> 00:04:38,615
from your teams and use this as an

122
00:04:38,615 --> 00:04:40,154
opportunity to continuously

123
00:04:40,535 --> 00:04:41,035
improve.

124
00:04:42,375 --> 00:04:44,774
Absolutely. And shifting gears just a little bit

125
00:04:44,774 --> 00:04:47,389
toward the financial side. How can leaders ensure

126
00:04:47,389 --> 00:04:49,389
their staff are well equipped to help patients

127
00:04:49,389 --> 00:04:51,949
navigate the financial aspects of their care, and

128
00:04:51,949 --> 00:04:54,209
how does this benefit patient provider relationships?

129
00:04:54,750 --> 00:04:55,490
Great question.

130
00:04:56,509 --> 00:04:59,069
There are so many nuances with payers and

131
00:04:59,069 --> 00:04:59,569
contracts,

132
00:05:00,125 --> 00:05:02,524
and those can vary, you know, from payer

133
00:05:02,524 --> 00:05:03,185
to payer

134
00:05:03,644 --> 00:05:07,084
and really arming your team with all the

135
00:05:07,084 --> 00:05:08,764
information that they need to be able to

136
00:05:08,764 --> 00:05:11,104
help answer questions for their patients

137
00:05:11,564 --> 00:05:12,064
is,

138
00:05:12,660 --> 00:05:14,900
is essential. So we focus on a lot

139
00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:16,920
of, you know, constant staff training.

140
00:05:17,460 --> 00:05:21,879
We are focusing on having one dedicated individual

141
00:05:22,020 --> 00:05:22,840
with a backup

142
00:05:23,300 --> 00:05:26,264
for when this individual is gone to constantly

143
00:05:26,324 --> 00:05:28,964
on a weekly basis be monitoring the updates

144
00:05:28,964 --> 00:05:30,105
on the payer sites.

145
00:05:30,485 --> 00:05:33,045
As we know, payers will make changes to

146
00:05:33,045 --> 00:05:34,964
their policy and their,

147
00:05:35,524 --> 00:05:36,504
provider manual

148
00:05:36,964 --> 00:05:39,045
and they don't notify you and you have

149
00:05:39,045 --> 00:05:41,199
to go out to their web site to

150
00:05:41,819 --> 00:05:44,240
see what their latest changes are and what

151
00:05:44,699 --> 00:05:46,000
procedures are now

152
00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:48,939
requiring a prior auth that weren't requiring before

153
00:05:48,939 --> 00:05:50,959
or any other changes that are happening.

154
00:05:51,339 --> 00:05:51,839
So,

155
00:05:52,379 --> 00:05:55,041
focusing on constant staff training, having a dedicated

156
00:05:55,041 --> 00:05:55,216
individual that can help monitor those communications, ensure

157
00:05:55,216 --> 00:05:57,774
that with the rest that can help monitor

158
00:05:57,834 --> 00:05:59,995
those communications and share that with the rest

159
00:05:59,995 --> 00:06:00,654
of the team.

160
00:06:01,194 --> 00:06:03,595
But yeah, having those conversations with patients on

161
00:06:03,595 --> 00:06:04,814
their financial responsibility

162
00:06:05,274 --> 00:06:06,415
is becoming increasingly

163
00:06:07,274 --> 00:06:09,595
challenging because more and more patients have higher

164
00:06:09,595 --> 00:06:10,095
deductibles

165
00:06:10,794 --> 00:06:11,535
and we've

166
00:06:12,050 --> 00:06:15,009
certainly understood that patients have a hard time

167
00:06:15,009 --> 00:06:18,629
really comprehending exactly what is their responsibility.

168
00:06:19,410 --> 00:06:21,410
There may be some confusion on the patient

169
00:06:21,410 --> 00:06:23,410
side regarding what is the copay, what is

170
00:06:23,410 --> 00:06:24,069
the deductible,

171
00:06:24,449 --> 00:06:26,175
what is their out of pocket mats

172
00:06:26,654 --> 00:06:28,574
And having a well trained staff that can

173
00:06:28,574 --> 00:06:31,314
talk them through that and help them understand

174
00:06:32,175 --> 00:06:34,654
can help them start to build trust in

175
00:06:34,654 --> 00:06:36,675
your facility and in your team

176
00:06:37,055 --> 00:06:39,055
prior to them even stepping foot in your

177
00:06:39,055 --> 00:06:39,555
door.

178
00:06:40,389 --> 00:06:42,629
And as we wrap our conversation today, I'd

179
00:06:42,629 --> 00:06:44,229
love to know if you have any parting

180
00:06:44,229 --> 00:06:46,949
words for the podcast or anything else you'd

181
00:06:46,949 --> 00:06:49,430
like to share. Well, thank you, Grace. I

182
00:06:49,430 --> 00:06:52,229
would say invest in your leadership team, invest

183
00:06:52,229 --> 00:06:53,529
in leadership development.

184
00:06:53,910 --> 00:06:55,050
We are constantly

185
00:06:55,875 --> 00:06:58,514
growing and training the next generation of ASC

186
00:06:58,514 --> 00:06:59,014
leaders.

187
00:06:59,795 --> 00:07:02,115
And, you know, this starts from the time

188
00:07:02,115 --> 00:07:05,014
of hire, communicate to your workforce

189
00:07:05,555 --> 00:07:07,074
and to your new hires that there is

190
00:07:07,074 --> 00:07:08,134
a path for professional

191
00:07:08,595 --> 00:07:09,814
growth in your organization.

192
00:07:10,939 --> 00:07:14,639
Explore things such as internship programs, apprenticeship programs,

193
00:07:15,660 --> 00:07:18,939
hiring summer students that are going to be

194
00:07:18,939 --> 00:07:22,800
applying to nursing programs or medical schools.

195
00:07:23,339 --> 00:07:24,194
And just

196
00:07:24,595 --> 00:07:27,814
reinforcing that an ASC is a great

197
00:07:28,115 --> 00:07:29,574
opportunity to learn

198
00:07:30,035 --> 00:07:30,855
and to be

199
00:07:31,235 --> 00:07:34,035
professionally challenged. There's so much that you can

200
00:07:34,035 --> 00:07:36,435
do, so many committees that you can be

201
00:07:36,435 --> 00:07:39,154
a part of and so much cross training

202
00:07:39,154 --> 00:07:41,680
that can happen that can really help benefit

203
00:07:41,980 --> 00:07:44,379
and grow you professionally and grow your team

204
00:07:44,379 --> 00:07:44,879
professionally.

205
00:07:46,220 --> 00:07:48,379
Wonderful. Well, Tina, thank you so much for

206
00:07:48,379 --> 00:07:50,540
joining me today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

207
00:07:50,540 --> 00:07:52,560
Again, we're live at the business and operations

208
00:07:52,699 --> 00:07:55,600
of ASCs. Thanks so much. Thank you.