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forward slash beckerspodcast.
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast, and we are recording live the twenty
second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference.
I'm currently joined by Jack Dylan, who is
the CEO at us Anesthesia Practice Consultants.
Jack, thank you for being here. Let's start
off by having you share a little bit
more about yourself, your role, and your organization.
You got it. Thank you for having me.
Great to be here. Great conference,
so far.
Really great topics and speakers. So,
my name is Jack Dylan. I'm the chief
executive officer for anesthesia practice consultants. We're a
large independent anesthesia group based out of Grand
Rapids, Michigan. I also serve as the executive
director for the Association for Independent Medicine.
We're a large network,
nationally of independent practices, mostly anesthesia, but crosses
all subspecialties
that focuses on independent practice, private practice, and
and how do we, thrive in this ever
changing health care environment.
Wonderful. Well, glad to have you here.
And let's start with what trends or shifts
you're seeing right now in the industry that
you think is most important for, leaders to
pay attention to. Sure. I I think, you
know, staffing,
is probably the biggest shift that we're all
dealing with over the last couple of years.
You know, I'll speak, mostly from an anesthesia
perspective since since that's my wheelhouse. And,
you know, I think being here at the
Becker's conference, you you've heard two big topics
that have come to mind in every session
I've been in. It's either been AI
or what's everybody doing about anesthesia.
And so I think, you know, from a
shift standpoint, I don't think we've seen the
the hardest times when it comes to anesthesia
staffing. I think,
we're still
in a spot where it's mainly
okay, but the burnout is rapidly increasing.
It might not feel like it for some
people, but it's it's it's certainly we're seeing
it across practices. And I think,
getting more creative,
in how we're going to manage,
procedural time and surgical time is gonna be,
become a necessity
going forward.
Absolutely. And you actually segue great into my
next question, which is about staffing and workforce
challenges as that continues to be a concern
across health care sectors.
So how is your organization navigating the pressures?
And do you have any specific strategies that
have worked well here? Yeah. Sure. No. That's
that's a great question. You know, I think,
the the big thing that I point out
with anesthesia staffing is that
it's not like it was ten or twenty
years ago. The work has gotten harder. The
patients have gotten sicker. We hear that constantly.
But previous concepts of management of block time
and surgical time,
that existed ten or twenty years ago are
are far gone. You know, elective cases are
going after 05:00, 07:00,
and it's just getting later days as as
hospitals and systems,
you know,
go after more volume, hire more surgeons,
switch to RVU based models. These have all,
really
impacted,
anesthesia and staffing and and the workload and
the burden that that that has taken place.
So I think when we look at, you
know, the workforce challenges, we have to really
be mindful about where we're putting our people
and giving our people appropriate reprieve. We're watching,
all staff, you know, across all health care,
want to work better hours, have better balance
and autonomy, and a better say, and meanwhile,
maintaining their compensation.
And health care wasn't built for that. Right?
Especially not under Medicaid and Medicare.
Absolutely.
And shifting gears a little bit, as outpatient
care continues to grow, how do you see
the role of orthopedics and anesthesia evolving within
the broader healthcare ecosystem?
Yeah. I mean, we're watching,
surgical centers and especially orthopedic centers, pop up
like Starbucks. Right? I mean, they're,
everybody wants a bite at this apple, and
and I completely get it. I I understand
it too. And then just what I said
before about staffing. Right? Those are very desirable
places for people to work. Right? More predictable
hours, healthier patients,
better payer mix.
Those things make life a heck of a
lot easier. Right? When,
when you're a nurse or an anesthesiologist or
a surgeon, I we we can't blame people
for wanting to go after that work. And
so I think the shift and the growth
in that has been very attractive for for
people working in health care. Absolutely.
And then final question as we're kinda wrapping
our conversation up. Many organizations are exploring new
technologies,
partnerships, and care models to improve efficiency and
outcomes. So are there any innovations or initiatives
you found particularly promising?
I think, you know, everybody's watching AI modeling,
and I think that's one one way to
look at it. I think,
technologies that are spanning specialties,
you know, are really fascinating to me. You
know, typically, you'd you'd watch a lot of
vendors,
come they'd be anesthesia specific or or surgery
specific or pain management specific.
We're watching that crossover a lot more, which
leads to better workflows and better consistency. So
watching that growth has been good.
And so it's, you know, kind of taking
a large behemoth EMR, but it's still tailoring
it to the outpatient setting.
But it still crosses specialties, I think, is,
is really exciting to watch.
Absolutely. Well, Jack, thanks so much for being
here. Is there anything else you'd like to
share that we didn't touch on today?
Not really. I think, you know, the next
three to five years are gonna be
a big shift for everybody working in health
care. I think, we're gonna waddle watch a
lot of national change take place,
and I think we, we're in this better
together.
Well, again, thanks so much for being here,
on the Becker Healthcare Podcast. We are live
at the twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and
Pain Management Conference.
Thank you.