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This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare

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podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by

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Emma Kimo, who is a director of nursing

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at Manhattan Endoscopy Center. Emma, it's a pleasure

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to have you on the podcast today. Thank

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you so much for the opportunity and the

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privilege but to to participate. Thank you, Laura.

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Absolutely. Well, I'm excited for the opportunity to

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speak with you because I know there's so

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much happening in health care, and particularly

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the GI and ask the center space is

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just truly fascinating. So I'm excited to hear

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your perspective. But before we dive in, can

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you introduce yourself and tell us just a

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little about your background?

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Hello. Thank you.

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Personally,

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at Manhattan Endoscopy

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Center, serving as a director of nursing, next

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month is gonna be five years now,

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Throughout the changes

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of,

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not only

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our

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current

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administration,

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which we became part of SCA, a much

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larger corporation,

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and also remaining,

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trying to

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individualize

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our care for our community.

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Before that,

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it's been

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in between hospitals and ASC

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most,

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the last thirteen years in ASCs and mostly

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in administrative positions.

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Well, that's great to hear. And, absolutely, I

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know, you know, things are kind of constantly

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shifting and changing, so I can appreciate,

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that flexibility.

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Now what are the top three trends that

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you're following in health care and ASEs today?

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Oh, health care today

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and ASEs,

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we have grown

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so much in the past

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thirty years.

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From the time they started ASCs in the

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seventies to right now has been a big

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loop.

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And,

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from the last, I would say, twenty years,

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even more.

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In 2010,

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there were about 5,000 ASCs in The United

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States, and

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right now we're like over 11,000.

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So

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it's

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a great growth,

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and also the benefits that provide to the

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general population,

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not only in GI, but in all the

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specialties.

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And, we haven't stopped really

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adapting

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to other specialties

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into bringing other specialties into ASCs.

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So, that is exciting

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and beautiful to see.

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We are actually seeing some transformation

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and the ability to provide care for

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the most priority,

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except we remain

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ASC criteria

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specific to for patient safety.

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And I think that is very important.

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Although there is more and more to be

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done in ASCs,

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we do maintain that patient safety perspective

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and,

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a limit to ASCs

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one, two, and three.

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Even though we do see more acuity in

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patients nowadays,

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we still remain

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providing patient safety.

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And also,

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well,

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with that said, GI has actually been one

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of the forefront NISCs

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and remains one of them.

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But,

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in order to

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survive,

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we see that

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we kind

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of benefit from extending

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our services to other to incorporate other specialties,

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other

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extend our services.

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Our present practice is actually looking forward to

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bringing

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noninvasive

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vein related procedures.

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And so that will be a big step

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for us to extend our services,

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and I'm looking forward to it.

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Having had,

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experience in a multispecialty

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surgery before,

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going beyond GI here, it's going to be

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amazing.

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So,

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yeah, bringing

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more services,

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providing

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for more specialties,

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and increasing

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or within control

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our acuity, I think those are the three

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main things that I'm looking ahead.

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Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. And,

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you know, it's particularly intriguing to think about

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adding more services and and specialties.

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What is it like to prepare for them

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and actually bring in a new specialty when

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you have a a legacy of being a

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a single specialty center in the past? So

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how do you have to think differently and

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and do things a little bit differently in

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order to make that work?

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Actually, it is it is it is a

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lot of prepare preparation,

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involving

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special

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our consultants

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and also,

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preparing the terrain,

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preparing the environment

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to actually

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comply with with all,

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certificate of need needed to be changed. So,

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with that, also we need to prepare to

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maintain

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not only the standard we and the

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physical environment

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that we have, but also increasing

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our

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outlook

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and what needs to be done and maintained

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in order to add that specialty.

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It's it's it's a lot of involvement,

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but it's worth it in the long run,

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not only because,

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expands our services, but also because it prepare

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it prepares us for better and more.

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Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Thank

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you for speaking to it. Now what are

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the most exciting things, that are on your

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mind right now? What are you looking forward

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to?

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I'm looking

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forward to see what changes is the Federal

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Health Administration

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going to bring.

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Just recently, and we were looking for it,

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the OBPS

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were,

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published for the 2025,

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and,

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we are okay

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considering that could be

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a different

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panorama

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with a 2.9 increase

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and also

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with the perspective of increasing

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older,

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more complicated

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or previously never thought brought into ambulatory procedures

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approved.

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So, that is a good thing to see.

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And,

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but, yes,

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we will

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I'm looking forward to see what is gonna

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bring us the new changes and how we're

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gonna adapt to it.

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I think we have created,

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resilience

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in the industry of ambulatory,

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and we should be able to add more

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in order to provide better

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in the whole spectrum of ambulatory care,

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not in competition, but in actually association or

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in collaboration

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with

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the,

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hospitals.

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So

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we can be part of the solution

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of health care as a in an in

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our nation,

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if that makes sense. Right?

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Absolutely. Absolutely. No. I love that. And I

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I think, there's such an important role that

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surgery centers and endoscopy centers and, you know,

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the outpatient services really plays, especially as more

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care goes outpatient and, you know,

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the health care system at large is looking

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for more ways to,

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provide that high value, low cost care.

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Correct. Yep. Part of the solution, and that's

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what per the perspective will become part of

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the solution acting,

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should

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remain at the as a denominator,

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even though there are so many pieces that

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are variables,

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but it's a fascinating world

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to remain in ambulatory.

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Absolutely.

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Now before we wrap up here, I'm curious,

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how are you thinking about growth over the

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next twelve months or so? I know we

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talked a little bit about that in in,

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previously in the conversation, but when you think

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about growth even in some of your legacy

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services, what does that look like?

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So

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as

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we witness and are part of the ongoing

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effort

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to become

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an affordable

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health care

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system

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nationwide,

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I'm looking ahead to see what is it

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that changes that are going to accomplish this.

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Perhaps not in a turnaround

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through that, a 190 degrees,

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but little by little,

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and,

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to solve some of the biggest issues, financial

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issues with the health care system.

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I believe that ambulatory can provide

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a strong,

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strong

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elements of solution for this,

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and but we need to remain aware

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of where we're going with it.

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And,

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so I'm looking to that and at the

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same time make sure that we remain competitive.

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We remain

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applicable to the communities,

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not all not all not all cookie cutters.

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There are differences, and we need to attain,

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attend to those differences because the communities do

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deserve that attention.

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So, yeah,

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changes will be happening,

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and I'm looking forward to it

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in the next twelve probably

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initially twelve months, but it probably will extend

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to longer.

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Remain safe,

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remain best possible

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option for

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patients,

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and as we increase our acuity.

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And then,

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growing, keep just growing and offering more for

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less, if that would be possible.

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Somehow, also,

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the creations of,

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manufacture business, manufacture

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suppliers

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within The United States, how is that gonna

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affect us?

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We it's it's yet to really be seen.

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So,

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few changes coming in the twelve months, but

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these are among

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the things that I'm looking forward to to

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see.

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Hopefully, everything to congruently

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work

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so we remain in business.

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And, also, we remained

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an option the best option for this low

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accuracy procedures

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and,

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for the care of our communities.

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Absolutely. Well, Emma, thank you so much for

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joining us on the podcast today. This has

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been such an informative and enlightening conversation, and

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I look forward to connecting with you again

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soon.

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Thank you so much, Nora. It's good to

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seeing you again.

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Absolutely. And, you know, definitely looking forward to

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seeing you at our,

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ASC meeting in October. It's just such a

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unique and and fun time to see people

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in person and be connecting about the big

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challenges as well as continuing these conversations,

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that we've been having today. So thank you

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so much for being here, and I I

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look forward to seeing you in person there

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too.

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Looking forward as well. Thank you, Laura.