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forward slash beckers podcast.

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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'm joined right now by Helen Lowenworth, who

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is an administrator at Eastside Endoscopy. So, Helen,

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thank you for joining me today. You're welcome.

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We'd love to have you start off by

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taking a moment to introduce yourself and telling

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us a little bit more about your role.

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K. Well, thank you for having me.

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Again, my name is Helen Lowenworth. I'm the

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administrator

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at Eastside Endoscopy, which is located in, New

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York City.

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We have five procedure rooms,

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single specialty endoscopy.

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So So the majority of our work is

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screening colonoscopies

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and upper endoscopies.

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And we do about 12,000 procedures every year.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time

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today.

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Let's start our conversation here with ASC volume.

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So this this is expected to increase by

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16%

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across the country by the year 02/1932.

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What are the most pressing challenges to maintaining

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a positive patient experience?

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Okay. Well, I'm sure I'm not the first

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one to sit here during the course of

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this conference and mention

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the staffing challenges that we have in ambulatory

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centers.

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It it's and it it just goes to

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a post COVID environment with physicians,

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retiring, anesthesiology

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shortages,

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and nursing, basically nursing.

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And on another hand, we don't hear too

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much about it, but with the the break

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in education,

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our medical assistants, which really play a very

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valuable role in the centers as,

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technicians,

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surgical techs in the Operating Rooms and procedure

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rooms, endoscopy techs in my particular case, there's

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a real shortage because they come out of

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those MA programs which were sort of halted

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for a few years. So that's that's really

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our biggest challenge.

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But we're, we're rising to the occasion and

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I think that,

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hospital systems and even patients are realizing

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the, that ambulatory surgery centers are a good

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alternative

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for them to get great care.

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We have great outcomes.

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And nurses,

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once they come to work in the centers,

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they like it. And so the retention, it's

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a little challenging, but,

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I think we'll be able to meet the

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increase over the next few years.

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Wonderful.

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And going off of that, what strategies have

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worked for your organization as you tackle some

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of those challenges? And what's one recommendation that

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you have for health care leaders to stay

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ahead? Okay. Well, you know, it it's an

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old cliche, but your

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your people are your most valuable asset. And

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so I think it's,

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it's hard

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for,

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we're so busy

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and time is a limited,

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quantity,

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but

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you have to find the time to invest

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in your staff,

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help them

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grow their

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professionalism and their their credentials,

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give them the tools they need, embrace new

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technologies,

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get them involved in

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as much as 90% of the work we

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do is is patient care. There's also a

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lot of other areas

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with committee work and quality studies

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and some very interesting,

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new technologies coming out. And when you engage

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the staff and give them little projects and

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get them involved and they see the potential

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in the future,

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it really does help to retain get for

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them to stay because they're they're not bored

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or they're finding something that maybe maybe piques

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their interest and they're good at. And then

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and so I think that's

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that's really something we have to embrace and

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continue to to,

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develop with our staffing.

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Absolutely. Well, let's shift gears just a little

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bit to the financial side. How can leaders

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ensure their staff are well equipped to help

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patients navigate the financial aspects of care, and

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how does this benefit patient provider relationships?

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Well, this is one of my favorite topics

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because I am not a clinical person by

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background. I am a business,

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businessperson. I've been working in administration

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all of my career and have managed, oh,

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three or four different types of health care

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organizations.

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And the unsung heroes in in in the,

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the area of front office operations,

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scheduling,

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insurance verifications,

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understanding

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that market is very complicated.

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And it's important

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that we really understand that because we spend

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a lot of time educating

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patients about their health insurance.

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They really don't understand it.

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And so

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it, and it's very important now. There's all

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sorts of laws out there about surprise bills

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and

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you know, now you're not even going to

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be able to do take collections to a

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certain level. And we don't we don't want

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to. We want patients who have insurance. We

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want them to use their insurance properly.

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We want them to understand,

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direct them to the insurance companies when they

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have questions, but it's a big effort.

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But, and a lot of people don't understand

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it. So in, in my center and in

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a lot of,

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a lot of ambulatory centers, because we, we

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don't get that type of reimbursements hospitals get.

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So we have to be very efficient and

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we have to collect money. And so

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it's it's worth investing and training your staff,

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having the necessary tools

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so that we can provide the service

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and remain profitable.

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Absolutely. Well, as we wrap our conversation here

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today, is there anything else you'd like to

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share on the podcast? Well,

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on on my now I'll put on my

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hat, my other hat. I'm a a member

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of the New York State Association for Ambulatory

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Surgery Centers,

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and I have been for about six or

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seven years now. And, and I encourage everybody

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to get involved with their local state

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association. I think all states have them. There's

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a couple of regional ones as well. Everything

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that we're impacted by happens at the state

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level for the most part,

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aside from Medicare, but there's a lot going

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on in The States. New York is highly

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regulated in terms of health care, and we

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have made major, major strides

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in,

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being recognized as an important part of the

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health care system in New York state.

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We we do advocacy days in Albany. We've

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had our elected officials visit ambulatory centers,

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and it has helped advance our cause in

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New York. So,

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I I really think that's very important. I

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encourage everybody to do that.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for taking

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the time to join me today on the

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Becker's healthcare podcast and sharing your insights. Again,

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we are live at the business and operations

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of ASCs.

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Thank you.