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Hi, everyone. This is Brian Zimmerman with Becker's

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Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning in

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to the Becker's Healthcare podcast.

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Today, we're on-site at Becker's twenty second annual

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spine orthopedic and pain management driven ASC and

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the future of spine conference.

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We're gonna talk about enhancing access, leveraging technology,

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and leading digital transformation in orthopedic care.

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Joining me for this conversation is Meredith Worf,

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chief executive officer of Mississippi Sports Medicine and

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Orthopedic Center, a part of US Orthopedic Partners.

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Meredith, thank you so much for being here.

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Great. Thank you so much for having me.

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So so to kick things off, let's just

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start with an introduction, getting to know you

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a bit more than the the brief wind

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up I gave you there.

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Just just go ahead and share a few

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pertinent details about your background. Oh, absolutely. So

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I've been in the health care space almost

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twenty years now. Before that, I was in

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public accounting,

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before I transitioned into health care. Currently, I

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am the CEO of Mississippi Sports Medicine Orthopedic

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Center. We are a,

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sub specialized group of about 45 providers, 21,

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orthopedic surgeons and pain management specialists.

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We have a vertically integrated

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practice including our own surgery center,

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everything from urgent care to pharmacy to imaging,

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you name it. So we really have strived

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in the last,

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really ten years to provide a seamless

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continuity of care for anyone, needing orthopedic

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orthopedic care. And then I'm also the senior

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vice president of ASC strategy at US Orthopedic

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Partners. So we, in 2020, became a part

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of a

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a bigger MSO

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group. We have 10 facilities across the Southeast

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in Alabama, Mississippi, and in Louisiana,

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and we are, excited as we kinda watch

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the the transformation of how care is not

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only delivered, but also

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accessed.

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Yeah. And let's get right into that access

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component because, of course, that's

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a that's a that's a priority for many.

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It's a challenge for for many sort of

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improving that access. Can you talk a little

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bit about the strategies or or, I guess,

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even perspectives that you brought to the table

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that are helping improve

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access to the patient journey while also, you

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know, really supporting staff throughout this?

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Yeah. Well, I know it's no secret. Everybody

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in the country knows that everything's going digital,

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especially in the last five years. It's been

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just exponentially

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increasing everything from

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having a digital front door to the use

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of different AI technologies,

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and overarching the macro trend of just consumer

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driven decisions and who they

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want to see for their elective orthopedic care.

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So, you know, we've really focused,

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especially in the last, you know, since COVID

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really, in how to

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create the easiest possible way to to get

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an appointment with the

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subspecialized,

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specialist. If that's urgent care, then, you know,

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patient decides that they've

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had a, you know, shoulder that's been hurting

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for a long time, and today's the day

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I wanna get seen. Well, you need to

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have a way for them to be seen

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today

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before, you know, something comes up. So,

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we're in a world now where everything is,

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you know, now now now. We're all in,

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all in our little computers. We call cell

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phones here a 100% of the day. And

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so that digital front door is really important.

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The, the AI type technology is as well.

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I was in a, a session earlier today,

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and and there was a really,

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great comment made and that, you know, all

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companies

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don't really have AI. You know, it's calling

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back in the .com,

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you know, era when everybody said, just put

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a .com behind your name and you're in

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the tech business. Well, that's not really how

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it works. You know, which companies are truly

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using,

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artificial intelligence to,

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solve problems

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that exist Yep. For us. It it I

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I will have to confess to listeners that

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I was also in that session.

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And I'm gonna ask you, I think, the

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same question I asked,

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that gentleman, which is what are you looking

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for in an AI partner?

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Yeah. Great question. So,

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you know, we're here to talk about access,

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so let's talk about that. Right. In a

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subspecialized

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practice, you've got certain physicians who see

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maybe it's just shoulder and elbow, maybe it's

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only hand and wrist, it's only foot and

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ankle. Well, they're in clinic certain days of

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the week and have availability, you know, obviously

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want them as full as they can be

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every day. So

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we need to have

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a way to,

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number one, answer phone calls quicker than our

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call room can at at 09:00 in the

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morning when you've got, you know, 65 calls

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in the queue. We can't hire 65 people

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because you don't have that much of a

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queue all day long every day. You know?

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So you need to be able to answer

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the phone, and then you also need to

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be able to quickly

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understand from that caller

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what they're needing. Is it an injury?

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Are we in network with the payer?

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All all the the different nuances around creating

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a patient appointment.

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Every physician has

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a certain matrix in which they like to

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govern their schedule to be as efficient as

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they can be.

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So you think about it, someone in the

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call center,

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is having to flip through pages to try

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to understand,

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wait, what's a clavicle or what's a what's

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a humorous and what's a, you know, and

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then does this doctor see

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shoulders? Does it you know? So there's just

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a lot of decision points

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that logically can be

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you know, we can use technology to deduce,

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but we still have to have a component

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of oversight, right, as we're doing that. So

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what are we looking for? A company that

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can, first of all, partner with us to

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look at our operations and create something that

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really helps us that fits to what we

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do every day, and at the end of

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the day,

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make the jobs easier for the people that

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we do have, you know, making those appointments.

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So letting them take off the mundane task

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and let them really focus on the things

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that that drive value and customer satisfaction.

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Yeah. So, really, you're looking for fit. It

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can it can it can plug in,

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but, also, it's going to actually make the

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lives of the humans around around better. Correct?

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Yes. Correct. Can can you share more about,

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I guess, then the the outcomes you've seen?

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What has it meant for for your staff?

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What has it meant for your patients?

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Absolutely. So I think the thought of, adding

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in technology

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to a

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a call tree, for example,

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could be,

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you know, people worry a little bit about,

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well, are you gonna get rid of of

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the people that work here? You can't just

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all be, you know, be all technology. A

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robot can't answer every every single call. Well,

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at the end of the day,

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what if the AI agent answers the call

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and then within a couple of seconds,

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routes the call to exactly where it needs

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to go. You know? And then meantime can

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answer

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as many calls that come in at one

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time. So how has it changed our,

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our day to day life? We are early

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in the adoption of of this, but we're

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rolling out,

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a program that we really are excited about.

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So far, it's the AI bot has been

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able to take on about 20% of the

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calls that come in every day, just for

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mundane

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task like a confirm an appointment or a

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location or to, you know, cancel or reschedule.

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And then, you know, the next piece I

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think is really important, which should be able

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to

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actually send a message directly to

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a care team. Right?

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So it takes away several

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translating components. It can just listen to the

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call, get the message to the team. You

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know, the team can call you back even

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even more quickly.

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So, again, just creating a little bit more

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simple,

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you know, way to get the job done

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every day. And and I imagine, like, getting

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that message too feels,

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I guess, directly to the clinician. It's it's

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a license to act. Like, you know what

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I mean? It sort of encourages and empowers

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them to act. Right? Yeah. Yes. And then,

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you know, we're we're looking

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at we are implementing a scheduling software

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that is not only gonna be, you know,

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interfaces with our practice management system, so it

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can comb the appointment schedules and come up

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with next appointments.

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But it's also gonna help us keep track

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of rotation

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between physicians of of patients that call in.

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I mean, those are you know, we've got

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spreadsheets where we've historically had to had to

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track all of this.

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The program's gonna do that for us. And

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then, I guess, over overlaying the whole thing

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is that if a patient, you know, is

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becoming frustrated or talking to the bot or

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whatever, it automatically routes back to our our

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agents in the call center. Yep. Certainly. That's

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that's really fascinating. Can can you share I

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guess, you've talked about what you look for,

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what you want out of a solution, and

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I'm sure that bleeds into this next question,

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which is about the process by which you

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go about making these decisions.

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Can you talk and and also being a

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part of a larger organization now, can you

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talk a little bit about, like, who's at

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the table for these decisions?

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What are your considerations? I imagine

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making sure it's patient centric and good for

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staff are our top priorities. But what else

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could you share about that process?

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And then I have another question for you.

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Yeah. No. Great, great question. So like I

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said, we are a band of

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10 orthopedic groups across several states, we are

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all on the same practice management system and

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EMR, which is which is helpful.

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And,

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you know, some products are best tested in

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a smaller

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group and some are best tested in a

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larger group. So Mississippi sports medicine is, one

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of the the largest groups in the platform,

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and so we felt like,

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you know, with the complicated nature,

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by which

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appointments are made and all different, you know,

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whether it's an MRI,

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you know, clinic appointment, you know, all of

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those things that if we could, you know,

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create this, if it works at Mississippi Sports

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Medicine,

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then it could work elsewhere as well. So

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that's the beauty of it is you can

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test test out products in a small practice

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or in a big practice. Mhmm. Very cool.

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I guess then as we come to a

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close here, a couple more questions for you.

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But what are you excited about as as,

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the the this continues to advance? I think

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your enthusiasm comes through. I really wanna hear

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just to pinpoint what are you excited about

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as as the strategy continues to roll out.

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Yeah. Several things.

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Number one, we've got we call it our

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twenty four seven

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app. And so anyone in the community, all

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the athletic teams that that our our company

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covers, and you can scan a QR code

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and chat with a

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live person

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as to what they're experiencing. And and that

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live person can tell them, okay, go get

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an appointment

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or you you should be fine to rest

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at NYSED, things like that. Everything there is

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recorded and we're able to follow-up on it.

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We're soon gonna be able to use that

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app

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interface with

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our our partner here to actually create that

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appointment all in one. So the patient scans

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a QR code. They are educated about, hey.

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You're gonna be okay, but let's get you

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in to see a doctor in the next

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couple of days. They've got an appointment. Here

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they are. Or if you wanted to call

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in and,

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talk with the AI,

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you know, bot, make that super quick and

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and seamless,

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you can go online and use a chat.

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I personally love a chat. That's especially on

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if I have a chat or a portal

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option, that's the easiest way to to, to

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get a question answered. So I'm just I'm

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excited that we can use technology

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to

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to leverage our wonderful employees that we have

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to really focus on

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innovating and providing just that over the top

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customer service mentality that that we have to

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do alongside our best clinical care. Yeah. I

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imagine too that immediate sort of patient education,

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kinda does wonders for the the patient experience

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because

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I imagine being confused and especially when it

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relates to your health. We we're all human.

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You know? Probably not bringing out our best

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selves in those situations. Right. Right. So I

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imagine it does wonders for them. Right? Right.

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And we wanna be the resource. You know,

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we want in the community,

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where we serve. We want to be

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the WebMD. You know, where do you go

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to get your answers? Yeah. Call us. You

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know, don't don't check all the Google places,

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you know? Yeah. Call us. Be the source

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of Absolutely. For for your community. Mhmm. That's

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excellent.

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Is there anything else you wanna share? Any

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closing thoughts for listeners before I let you

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go?

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You know, technology's here. We really are excited

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about finding ways to embrace it.

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Finding the right partner is obviously critical, and

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everything is expensive. You know? So you really

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have to vet those partners to make sure

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that,

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it's gonna solve a problem and not just

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make

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the application

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look better to the patient or whatnot, you

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know, really needs to solve a problem. And

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at the end of the day, you know,

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technology's got to empower

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our people. It doesn't replace people. So Yep.

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Excellent place to close. Thank you, Meredith. Thank

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you so much. I also wanna thank our

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podcast sponsor Relation. You can tune into more

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podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast

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page at beckerspodcast.com.