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
00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,719
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

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

18
00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:42,340
and operations of ASCs.

19
00:00:43,119 --> 00:00:45,359
I'm joined right now by Jeffrey Flynn, who

20
00:00:45,359 --> 00:00:49,204
is the administrator and COO of Gramercy Surgical

21
00:00:49,344 --> 00:00:51,585
Center. So thanks so much for joining me

22
00:00:51,585 --> 00:00:53,265
today. Would love to have you start off

23
00:00:53,265 --> 00:00:55,265
by taking a moment to introduce yourself a

24
00:00:55,265 --> 00:00:56,085
little bit further.

25
00:00:56,545 --> 00:00:59,620
Sure. I'm Jeff Flynn. I'm the administrator and

26
00:00:59,620 --> 00:01:02,420
chief operating officer of Gramercy Surgery Center, and

27
00:01:02,420 --> 00:01:04,180
I'm also the president of the New York

28
00:01:04,180 --> 00:01:06,599
State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers,

29
00:01:07,140 --> 00:01:08,439
where we have a 175

30
00:01:08,740 --> 00:01:11,079
surgery centers in New York, but a 112

31
00:01:11,299 --> 00:01:12,920
are are members. Mhmm.

32
00:01:13,225 --> 00:01:15,225
Wonderful. Well, thank you for being here. And

33
00:01:15,225 --> 00:01:18,025
let's start our conversation today talking about ASC

34
00:01:18,025 --> 00:01:20,825
volume. So across the country, this is expected

35
00:01:20,825 --> 00:01:22,525
to increase by 16%

36
00:01:22,984 --> 00:01:24,204
by the year 2032.

37
00:01:24,984 --> 00:01:26,850
With this growth, what are the most pressing

38
00:01:26,850 --> 00:01:30,109
challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience? I

39
00:01:30,290 --> 00:01:32,689
think with that, it's gonna be especially as

40
00:01:32,689 --> 00:01:34,290
we're facing it in New York, it's gonna

41
00:01:34,290 --> 00:01:36,070
be actually access of care.

42
00:01:36,609 --> 00:01:38,850
It's that we have enough centers and building

43
00:01:38,850 --> 00:01:39,590
more centers.

44
00:01:40,049 --> 00:01:40,790
But also,

45
00:01:41,515 --> 00:01:43,115
where it's we have to be mindful of

46
00:01:43,115 --> 00:01:45,355
cost of cases and where we're actually directing

47
00:01:45,355 --> 00:01:47,435
the specific cases to. Can we afford to

48
00:01:47,435 --> 00:01:49,515
do the cases we're doing? And what would

49
00:01:49,515 --> 00:01:52,234
be our strategy to change the method of

50
00:01:52,234 --> 00:01:53,855
what cases we can change

51
00:01:54,314 --> 00:01:55,755
to afford to be able to do the

52
00:01:55,755 --> 00:01:56,255
cases?

53
00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,200
And going off of that, what strategies have

54
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,599
worked for your organization as you're tackling these

55
00:02:02,599 --> 00:02:04,760
challenges? And what's a recommendation you have for

56
00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:06,620
health care leaders to stay ahead?

57
00:02:07,479 --> 00:02:09,560
We've been hearing it, and it's resonated several

58
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:11,925
times at this conference, is value based care.

59
00:02:11,925 --> 00:02:14,025
That really is coming to full fruition.

60
00:02:14,564 --> 00:02:16,805
We're seeing it in New York, specifically with

61
00:02:16,805 --> 00:02:17,465
the unions.

62
00:02:18,165 --> 00:02:20,825
The largest union in New York has 420,000

63
00:02:22,085 --> 00:02:22,985
covered lives.

64
00:02:23,444 --> 00:02:25,525
That union is moving towards a thing because

65
00:02:25,525 --> 00:02:27,769
they're self funded. They're not just going via

66
00:02:27,769 --> 00:02:28,590
their TPA.

67
00:02:29,209 --> 00:02:32,169
They're actually contracting directly with centers. They're actually

68
00:02:32,169 --> 00:02:33,389
doing bundled payments

69
00:02:34,090 --> 00:02:36,110
just to get cases out of the hospital

70
00:02:36,169 --> 00:02:38,750
to just curb the, you know, unsustainable

71
00:02:39,129 --> 00:02:41,629
rising cost of health care across the board.

72
00:02:41,854 --> 00:02:43,854
And I think people have heard in the

73
00:02:43,854 --> 00:02:45,954
past that value health. I think the pandemic

74
00:02:46,014 --> 00:02:47,634
kind of stalled it a little bit.

75
00:02:47,935 --> 00:02:49,694
And I think people some often have their

76
00:02:49,694 --> 00:02:51,454
head in the sand that they're not realizing

77
00:02:51,454 --> 00:02:53,935
it is coming about because the employers are

78
00:02:53,935 --> 00:02:56,620
actually really demanding it. And it comes down

79
00:02:56,620 --> 00:02:57,760
to also that,

80
00:02:58,700 --> 00:03:00,780
70% of the country currently is under a

81
00:03:00,780 --> 00:03:02,620
self funded plan. They just don't know it.

82
00:03:02,620 --> 00:03:05,260
They have a commercial insurance card. They assume

83
00:03:05,260 --> 00:03:07,260
that it just works the way it does

84
00:03:07,260 --> 00:03:10,104
across the board. But those the people who

85
00:03:10,104 --> 00:03:11,405
represent that 70%

86
00:03:11,705 --> 00:03:13,944
on the employer side are demanding the change

87
00:03:13,944 --> 00:03:14,764
of the cost.

88
00:03:15,944 --> 00:03:19,144
And shifting gears slightly to the financial side

89
00:03:19,144 --> 00:03:21,144
of things. How can leaders ensure their staff

90
00:03:21,144 --> 00:03:23,969
are well equipped to help patients navigate financial

91
00:03:23,969 --> 00:03:26,209
aspects of care? And how does this benefit

92
00:03:26,209 --> 00:03:27,590
patient provider relationships?

93
00:03:29,090 --> 00:03:31,009
I think the most important thing is to

94
00:03:31,009 --> 00:03:32,930
really look at what the patient

95
00:03:33,330 --> 00:03:35,564
when you're focusing on the patient care is

96
00:03:35,564 --> 00:03:38,465
full transparency and giving the patients full communication.

97
00:03:39,324 --> 00:03:41,405
Several states have laws in place now that

98
00:03:41,405 --> 00:03:43,004
there has to be a time frame where

99
00:03:43,004 --> 00:03:44,625
the patient actually gets delivered

100
00:03:45,004 --> 00:03:46,305
what their patient responsibility

101
00:03:46,604 --> 00:03:48,409
is. But also in the

102
00:03:48,789 --> 00:03:51,030
same sense of looking at the case overall,

103
00:03:51,030 --> 00:03:52,569
are there hardship situations?

104
00:03:52,949 --> 00:03:53,769
All of us,

105
00:03:54,870 --> 00:03:57,189
to a certain extent do do certain aspects

106
00:03:57,189 --> 00:03:59,909
of charity care, but specifically maintaining a balance

107
00:03:59,909 --> 00:04:01,995
within the center so that we're giving the

108
00:04:01,995 --> 00:04:03,534
doctor a positive experience.

109
00:04:03,915 --> 00:04:05,275
You don't want to say to a doctor,

110
00:04:05,275 --> 00:04:06,955
we can take 10 of your cases, but

111
00:04:06,955 --> 00:04:09,455
the 11th case we can't take because

112
00:04:10,074 --> 00:04:12,155
we're not in that insurance or it's going

113
00:04:12,155 --> 00:04:13,115
to be a loss to it. You got

114
00:04:13,115 --> 00:04:15,115
to look at things from a business standpoint

115
00:04:15,115 --> 00:04:16,735
of let's look at the whole day

116
00:04:17,330 --> 00:04:19,509
and focus on that just to improve

117
00:04:19,970 --> 00:04:20,949
not only the

118
00:04:21,730 --> 00:04:24,129
doctor's relationship with the patient, but the patient's

119
00:04:24,129 --> 00:04:26,689
relationship overall with the center and the overall

120
00:04:26,689 --> 00:04:27,670
health care experience.

121
00:04:28,689 --> 00:04:29,189
Absolutely.

122
00:04:29,569 --> 00:04:31,810
And as we wrap our conversation up, is

123
00:04:31,810 --> 00:04:33,725
there anything else you'd like to share on

124
00:04:33,725 --> 00:04:34,785
the podcast today?

125
00:04:35,485 --> 00:04:37,004
Yeah. One of the the things I'd like

126
00:04:37,004 --> 00:04:39,165
to share, and of course, it's biased because

127
00:04:39,165 --> 00:04:40,305
I am a state president,

128
00:04:40,925 --> 00:04:43,404
is that it's really important to get out

129
00:04:43,404 --> 00:04:45,904
of your silos and see what's going on.

130
00:04:46,039 --> 00:04:48,120
So I really encourage everyone to join their

131
00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:49,019
state associations

132
00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:50,620
and specifically

133
00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,879
find out what they're not hearing day in

134
00:04:53,879 --> 00:04:55,959
and day out. Because we all work these

135
00:04:55,959 --> 00:04:58,360
12 hour days and don't really get out

136
00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,154
of it unless you're coming to conferences like

137
00:05:00,154 --> 00:05:02,314
this and really see what's available, what's in

138
00:05:02,314 --> 00:05:02,975
the future.

139
00:05:03,355 --> 00:05:05,355
And I think the state associations also help

140
00:05:05,355 --> 00:05:07,194
the smaller centers do that too. So I

141
00:05:07,194 --> 00:05:09,514
would encourage them just from the lifeline. We

142
00:05:09,514 --> 00:05:10,335
do a biweekly

143
00:05:10,649 --> 00:05:13,050
phone call for membership just of what's new,

144
00:05:13,050 --> 00:05:15,769
what's out there from a legislative standpoint to

145
00:05:15,769 --> 00:05:18,089
a technology standpoint. And I think a number

146
00:05:18,089 --> 00:05:20,649
of other states do that too. California and

147
00:05:20,649 --> 00:05:23,229
Texas are both excellent at at that also.

148
00:05:23,495 --> 00:05:25,975
And I really think that that's really important

149
00:05:25,975 --> 00:05:27,574
to just get out of the silos so

150
00:05:27,574 --> 00:05:29,574
you understand what's coming down the pipe for

151
00:05:29,574 --> 00:05:30,235
the future.

152
00:05:31,063 --> 00:05:32,903
Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time

153
00:05:32,903 --> 00:05:34,423
to be here today and joining me on

154
00:05:34,423 --> 00:05:36,663
the Becker's Health Care podcast. Again, we are

155
00:05:36,663 --> 00:05:39,163
live at the business and operations of ASCs.