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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 recording live at the

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twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management

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Conference.

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I'm currently joined by Ramesh Gaeth, who is

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the chief medical officer at DXTX

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Pain and Spine. So, Ramesh, thanks so much

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for being here today. To start us off,

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can you please share a little bit more

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about yourself, your role, and your organization?

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Thank you. Yes. My name is Ramesh Gaith.

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I'm the chief medical officer of DXTX Pain

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and Spine and medical director of Interventional Pain

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Institute in St. Louis, Missouri.

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I've been a physician for over two decades,

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and,

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excited to have joined,

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DXTX Pain and Spine after meeting doctor John

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Prunskis,

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who is,

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one of the founding members of the organization

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and former presidential appointee to the Department of

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Health and Human Services

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pain management task force,

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which established The US guidelines for the diagnosis

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and treatment of painful conditions.

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DXTX

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Pain and Spine

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is an organization

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that is

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majority physician and family owned

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that operates surgery centers and practices dedicated to

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the precise diagnosis and treatment of spine and

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pain conditions.

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We have approximately 60 locations spanning nine states,

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and we adhere to a unique model characterized

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by high physician ownership,

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physician respect, and a steadfast commitment to complying

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patient care.

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In addition to offering growth capital and strategic

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planning, DXTX provides comprehensive services in compliance, HR,

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finance, operations, and revenue cycle management.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for taking

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the time to be here today. And let's

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start off with what trends or shifts you're

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currently seeing right now in the industry

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that you think are most important for industry

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leaders to pay attention to.

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Throughout the years, we've noticed a significant shift

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of physicians and private practices

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moving away from hospital systems, operating rooms, and

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entering the ambulatory surgical center world.

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We noticed that, physician ownership of ASCs has

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grown significantly and continues to grow

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year after year.

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And this is a very important

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aspect of surgical care

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as now we're seeing more and more operations

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occurring on an outpatient basis.

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Absolutely. And I'd also love to touch on

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staffing and workforce challenges as these continue to

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be a concern for health care leaders. So

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how is your organization navigating these pressures, and

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what strategies have you seen work well?

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Workforce challenges are,

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across the board,

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affecting every organization.

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Unfortunately, no one is immune,

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to this particular

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aspect of our,

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changing landscape.

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But

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we do have a great workforce at DXTX

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Pain Spine, and we attract good employees, especially

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in a competitive market like health care.

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It requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond

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just offering a paycheck.

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We define and communicate our mission very clearly.

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Great employees wanna work somewhere with purpose.

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We make our mission visible in every interaction.

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We tell

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our employees who we are, what we stand

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for, and why our work matters.

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We build a strong

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employer brand.

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Our reputation is everything. We showcase our testimonials.

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We have community involvement,

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and

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we tell our patient

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success

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stories. And everyone takes pride in that, and

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people want to work with an organization

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that takes pride

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in the care they provide like ours.

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Absolutely. And as outpatient care continues to grow,

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how do you see the role of orthopedics,

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spine, and ASCs evolving within the broader health

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care ecosystem?

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As mentioned earlier, the the ASC landscape

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is going to,

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surpass and overcome

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hospital outpatient,

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departments, but also

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intraoperative,

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surgical cases

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in the hospital itself.

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We are moving away from the hospital based

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model

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to the independent

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ambulatory

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surgical center model where doctors have more independence.

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They have more autonomy,

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and they

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have a

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hand in changing the landscape

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and fostering,

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better relations with their patients

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and sort of removing that middleman that's in

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the room, particularly the hospitals.

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And then as we wrap our conversation up,

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many

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many organizations are exploring new technologies,

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partnerships, and care models to improve efficiency and

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outcomes. So are there any innovations or initiatives

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that you found particularly promising in this area?

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One of the biggest initiatives,

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that we see across,

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all fields and particularly our field is artificial

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intelligence.

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Artificial intelligence,

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is playing a massive role in the care

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that we provide,

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how we provide that care,

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how the patients find us to,

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to seek the care that they need.

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And,

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more recently,

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doctor spearheaded

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a fantastic study

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that was published by multiple DXTX

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pain and spine physicians across the country,

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with him being the leader.

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And it spoke specifically to this topic and

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how we implement spinal cord stimulation therapies these

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days and how AI

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is playing an impactful role, in patient care.

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Absolutely. Is there anything else you'd like to

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share that we didn't touch on today?

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Yes. I'd like to share some, new exciting

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developments that are happening across our DXTX

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network.

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We're integrating

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AI

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and digitizing

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our informed consent process.

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We're digitizing our educational process for our patient

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care models.

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We're utilizing

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programs such as anchor health care

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and Informed Consent

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where patients are able to

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learn about their procedures,

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prior to arriving to the surgery center.

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They're able to then view those procedures on

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multiple occasions on their own at home,

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as the

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informed consent process is an ongoing

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educational process for our patients.

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This allows the patients to,

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have all their questions answered.

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They allows them to view these videos

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with their families

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and their friends and then, come prepared with

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more questions if,

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they have any other questions they wanna ask

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when they come for their procedures.

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Additionally,

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what we've noticed utilizing these platforms in our

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practice, particularly,

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is that the patients have a higher satisfaction

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rate. Our nurses are more educated, and our

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staff feels that we're doing a great job,

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with our patients as well.

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Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for joining me

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today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast to share

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your insights. Again, we are recording at the

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twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management

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Conference.

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Thank you.