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visit carecredit.comforward/beccarspodcast.

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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

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Podcast, and we are live at the business

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and operations of ASCs.

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I am currently joined by Gerald Garcia, who

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is the CEO of Hawaii Institute

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For Pain and the Surgical Suites of Honolulu.

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Gerald, thanks for being here today. Would love

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to have you take a moment to introduce

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yourself and tell us a little bit more

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about your role in the industry.

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Thank you for having me. So my name

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is Gerald Garcia. People call me Jerry. I

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am a board certified anesthesiologist

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and interventional

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pain specialist. I'm a physician,

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founder of the Hawaii Institute For Pain,

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as well as the

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Surgical Suites of Honolulu. I'm also cofounder

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of,

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Stem Cell and Wellness Institute. So those 3,

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businesses complement each other. So one is a

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medical practice clinic

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based out of Hawaii,

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and the other is an ASC, a single

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specialty ASC, the surgical suites of Honolulu.

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And then we have a concierge

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stem cell and wellness Institute,

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which compliments

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the,

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needs of

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of our chronic pain patients.

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Wonderful. Did you travel all the way here

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from Hawaii? I did. All the way from

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Honolulu. Well, thank you for making the long

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journey. Oh, thank you. Thank you for having

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me. It's an honor.

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Alright. Well, let's start our conversation,

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with ASC volumes. So this is expected to

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increase by 16%

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across the country by the year 2032.

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So with this growth, what is the most

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pressing challenge to maintaining a positive patient experience?

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I think by far, the biggest challenge that

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we currently face and anticipate to face in

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the next

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few years

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is staffing shortage.

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That is a nationwide phenomenon,

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that

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leads to overworked

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staff, which can severely co compromise customer service.

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So for example, if your MA is focused,

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which is short for medical assistant, is focused

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on

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just patient care for an entire day and

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you don't have an extra pair of hands

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to take the phone calls, then you'll have

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several customers, patients calling

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without getting a response for

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an entire day. And that is one ex

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example of, you know, leading to patient dissatisfaction.

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You also have the challenge of increasing cost

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of doing business, rent, labor,

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supplies,

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while the reimbursement is not keeping in pace.

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So invariably,

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you're forced to increase your patient volume to

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to even make, you know, decent,

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profit margin,

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which is not big to begin with.

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And in essence,

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more patient

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volume just

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compromises,

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again, the patient experience.

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And going along with that,

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what strategies have worked for your organization to

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tackle some of those challenges? And what's one

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recommendation you have for health care leaders to

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stay ahead?

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So

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that's a 2 pronged question that I'd like

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to start by answering the second one,

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which is,

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what recommendation

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do I have for healthcare leaders to stay

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ahead? Which also answers the first question, which

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is the strategies involved to tackle these,

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challenges.

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So

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my one big recommendation

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is to

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make sure your organization

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has a mission.

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And that mission

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should be patient centered

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and really something

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service oriented,

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where you are trying to make a big

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difference,

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to the people you serve, the patients you

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serve, and the community

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that you serve.

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And

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once you have that mission,

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have core values to back it up and

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create this culture in your company

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of

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we are all part of a bigger purpose.

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We are not just doing our individual tasks.

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A doctor isn't just doing his procedures. A

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janitor isn't just cleaning the room. All this

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contribute to a bigger mission,

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which is to give patients whatever it is,

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the best possible experience,

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the best possible outcomes,

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etcetera.

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And once you have that, make sure that's

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inculcated upon your your staff, your employees so

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that they know

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that their tasks aren't just tasks, that they

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are part of something bigger.

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And when you have that, then it's easier

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for employees to

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go the extra mile, especially when they're short

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staffed

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to

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do extra things for patients,

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for the company,

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when they know that they're part of something

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bigger.

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And shifting gears just slightly to the financial

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side, how can leaders ensure their staff are

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well equipped to help patients navigate financial aspects

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of care? And how does this benefit patient

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provider relationships?

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So transparency is always

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a key in this and making sure that

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you have a staff that is always discussing

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in contact with patients,

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making them know what their financial obligations are,

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what things are covered, what things are not.

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An example that I have is,

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conscious sedation or sedation. We do a lot

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of these interventional pain procedures,

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and a lot of them are not considered

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medically necessary to have sedation, yet some patients

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insist on having

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it. Well, for as long as they know

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that, okay, this is not gonna be prior

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to the actual day itself,

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that, you know, your sedation will not be

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covered most likely.

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And if it's not, you're gonna be charged

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x amount.

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Then I think that that

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leads to a better experience for the patient

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because then

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when you have an educated, informed patient, you

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you have a happy patient. You have a

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happy patient. You have better,

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patient provider relationships.

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The other thing is I it's important to

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to see your billing team

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and your financial team as part of the

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interdisciplinary

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team for patient centered care. They are not

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just a bunch of people

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hidden in the background, doing all the billings,

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computer stuff.

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They should be part of the patient experience.

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They need to be given the ability

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to interact with patients and giving the tools

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to

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for them to deal with patients appropriately.

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So that's that's pretty much it, is making

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sure that your billing team is part of

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the financial

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or part of the interdisciplinary

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team.

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And as we wrap our conversation up, do

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you have any parting words to share on

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the podcast today?

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This is a challenging

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time to be

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doing this type of a business.

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There are a lot of, moving parts or

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a lot of unknowns.

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But at the end of the day,

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if you focus on your mission so for

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example, the mission of my company

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is to give chronic pain sufferers

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the best possible outcome while giving them the

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best possible experience

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and making sure that that

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your mission is not just money. Your mission

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is to really make a difference.

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I think everything else will follow. And so

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for as long as you keep holding true

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to that core value, that core mission,

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all these challenges,

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all these

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uncertainties

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are easier to face head on.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for taking

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the time to share these insights today on

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the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Again, we are live

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at the business and operations of ASCs.

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Thank you, Caitlin.