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forward slash beckerspodcast.

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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 doctor Ira Kornbluth, who

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is the president at Clearway Pain Solutions. So

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thanks so much for being here. Let's start

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off by having you share a little bit

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more about yourself, your role, and your organization.

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Thank you for the invitation to be here.

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It's certainly an honor.

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So my career

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started,

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upon completion of my fellowship in 02/2004.

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I, had gone to medical school and did

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my residency at Jefferson in Philadelphia

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and then started my practice

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in a multicenter,

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practice in Maryland.

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I had developed quite a robust following,

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became a partner,

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was doing quite well, but then decided to

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leave and start my own practice after four

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years being there.

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I was able to build a practice with

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several centers,

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hired really

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great quality physicians, most who are still with

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the practice, open surgery centers,

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and then transacted with private equity in 02/2017.

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My practice was called SmartPay Management.

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We merged with CurePay Management to form CurePay

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Management.

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Less than two years later, we had a

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recap event with our current sponsor, Next Phase

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Capital out of New York,

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and,

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transitioned to become Clearway Pain Solutions. Since that

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time, we've continued to scale.

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We're now in 10 states, still based out

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of Maryland.

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We're the biggest pain practice in the country

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now.

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And beyond being big, I think we're particularly

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proud of the fact that we have a

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very

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tightly operating model,

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very financially secure, very financially stable,

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and a practice that's very compliant, poised to

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scale.

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We have great reputation in the marketplace. We're

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a place docs wanna work.

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We are about halfway through the year now.

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We have 70 physicians, not one resignation so

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far this year. That's something we're really proud

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of. In terms of my role in the

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organization

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as a founder and president, I have my

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hands in most everything.

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I'm particularly focused right now on working with,

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physicians, mentoring them. I'm in charge of provider

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recruitment and hiring.

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I'm in charge of de novo development. We're

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opening about 25 centers this year, so there's

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a lot of work to be done there.

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I also oversee compliance,

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the special procedure program, and, most of the

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ancillary programs at Clearway.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time

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to be here and sharing your expertise.

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And let's start with what trends and shifts

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you're currently seeing right now in the industry

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that you think are most important for leaders

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to pay attention to.

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Great question. Obviously, there's a lot of buzz

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around tech advancements,

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specifically

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AI, and practices are learning about AI capabilities

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and how to enhance efficiencies

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in practice.

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There's definitely a set of service shift that

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we're seeing with procedures moving out of hospitals

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into surgery centers.

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Surgery centers can provide as good, if not

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better quality of care in a less expensive

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environment.

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There's an enhanced patient experience

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and an emphasis on

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empowering

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customers, consumers of health care.

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And with regard to pain management specifically,

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we've seen a migration

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towards more advanced procedure offerings

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with a deemphasis on opioids in pain management

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care.

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And let's also touch on staffing and workforce

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as these challenges continue to be a concern

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across health care. So how is your organization

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navigating these pressures, and what strategies have you

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seen working?

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Well, it's all relative. Right? So

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staffing challenges were more acute during the early

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stages of COVID.

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So management teams

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are

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hardened and better equipped to navigate the challenges

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of health care staffing.

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Some of the specific challenges around nurse availability

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and anesthesia coverage persist,

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but are less acute than they were early

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on during COVID.

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With regards to our organization,

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we closely monitor turnover by position

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and by region to determine if there are

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any worrisome patterns.

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We assess our periods periodically

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versus market to ensure fairness.

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Ultimately, employees wanna be heard and understood. So

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we do frequent surveys to undercover

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uncover any particular issues that otherwise might not

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surface.

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And the best approach to us is to

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have relatively frequent feedback

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with direct reports and touch points

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so we can hear their concerns, provide feedback,

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and ensure alignment throughout the organization.

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We also have a system in place that

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rewards

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great customer service

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and great work effort by our employees

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and coworkers can reward employees, not just managers.

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So it creates this collaborative environment throughout,

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the entire organization.

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And as outpatient care continues to grow, how

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do you see the role of orthopedics and

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ASCs,

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evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem?

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Yeah. So this goes back to my earlier

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comment about a site of service shift.

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Many spine, orthopedic, and pain cases

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are being done at the ASC that had

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previously been done in the hospital.

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And I envision a greater collaboration

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amongst ortho pain and neurosurgery,

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and that is really gonna merge as a

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standard, these centers of excellence with orthopedic spine

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and pain management.

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And

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we have an aging population with baby boomers

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aging

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and people living longer. There's gonna be

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greater need even for high quality orthopedic and

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pain management services

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and a demand for collaboration

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amongst the specialties to provide the best care

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for the patient.

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And as we kind of wrap up the

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conversation,

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many organizations are exploring new technologies,

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partnerships, or care models to improve efficiency and

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outcomes. So I'd love to know if there's

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any innovations or initiatives you found particularly promising.

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Ambient dictation.

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That's really the future.

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There's,

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a lot of discussion even at this conference

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about ambient dictation. I've been to many lectures

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where that's been a primary focus and really

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has been,

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in recent months and and even years. And

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doctors are seeming to embrace this new new

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approach.

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It is lessening their administrative

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burden.

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It's enhancing their efficiency.

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It's enhancing their productivity.

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Many doctors are able to see a few

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more patients per day, and that few additional

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patients per day,

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really

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increases their morale.

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And not having to stay after work for

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hours to finish charts,

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is, very appealing to physicians.

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There's also

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the potential for major back office efficiencies

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through technological advancements,

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that's starting to play out and should be

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accelerating,

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in the coming months and years.

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And is there anything else you'd like to

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share that we didn't touch on today?

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Just that we see pain management

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as a valuable resource

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within the health care system.

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We have positioned ourselves as part of the

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solution to the opioid problem

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and not a contributor to the problem.

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Our focus,

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as

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primarily interventional

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pain management versus chronic pain management,

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having the tools to make sure that

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if, controlled substances are provided, that they're being

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closely monitored and managed,

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and,

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curtailed

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is,

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you know, very important within the health care

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ecosystem.

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Absolutely. 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 Health Care Podcast. Again, we are live

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at the twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and

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Pain Management Conference.

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Thank you for the ability to come on

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here and speak to you today.