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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 live at the twenty

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second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference.

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I'm currently joined by doctor Vinay Belamkar, who

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is the CEO at Apollo Pain Center. So

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thank you so much for being here. Let's

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start off by having you introduce yourself a

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little bit further and tell us more about

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your role and organization.

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Oh, thank you for having me. This is

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a great conference.

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I look forward to it every year. I'm

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a solo interventional pain provider in, located in

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Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Started my practice about five years ago in

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the middle of COVID.

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Before that, I was a hospital

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based,

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provider.

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I provide comprehensive pain management

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for

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pretty much all comers. That's my niche is

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not turn away any patients saying, oh, you're

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a I only do this kind of pain

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or that kind of pain. So we see

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everything from some medication management all the way

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to cancer pain,

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the more advanced interventions,

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things like that.

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So it's been a challenging,

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few years trying to

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address all the broad spectrum of chronic pain.

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Absolutely.

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And let's start our conversation with what trends

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or shifts you're currently seeing right now in

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the industry that you think are most important

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for leaders to pay attention to.

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So from a chronic pain perspective, you know,

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it's still

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the, biggest problem

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patients face, and there are more chronic pain

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patients than diabetes, heart disease,

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cancer combined.

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But what I'm seeing is

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chronic pain gets a lip service

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and the multidisciplinary

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approach.

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But the way

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the reimbursement is going and how

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the payment structure is set up and the

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service structure is set up, the care is

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very fragmented.

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And getting a more comprehensive, multidisciplinary

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approach to chronic pain has been a challenge.

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Of course, we're all struggling with the

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the reimbursement

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environment,

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the inflationary

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cost, and also the cost being transferred on

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to the patients. So that seems to be

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the biggest,

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challenge.

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I call it the best of times and

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the worst of times kind of

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boundary

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because most patient

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honestly, from a medical,

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technological

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science standpoint, this is the best time for

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chronic pain. We have got I would not

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have imagined all the services

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and treatment options we have today and actually

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treat and cure pain. But also,

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at the same time,

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the limitations placed by payers and things like

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that is the most extreme at any time,

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it looks like. So I call it the

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best of times, worst of times, pondering.

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Absolutely. And let's also touch on staffing and

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workforce challenges as these continue to be a

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concern across health care. So how is your

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organization navigating these pressures, and what strategies have

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you seen work well?

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So,

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we are definitely, the staffing,

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especially right after COVID, has been a challenge

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at multiple levels. I've been trying to find

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good,

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mid level providers, like advanced practice providers, has

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been a challenge.

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Also, just the regular

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medical assistants and the day to day,

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operations has been a struggle.

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One of the ways we have addressed that

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is trying more and more,

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virtual

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assistance, the virtual

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remote

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billing

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type things.

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So it's a balance. We're trying to make

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it more of a hybrid.

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But being

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a hands on practice, you need people in

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place.

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Being in a city surrounded by multiple large

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organizations like hospital based,

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payers, there's always a competition to get good

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employees. So that's been a challenge. So we're

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trying to look at catching them early

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and highlighting

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the advantages of a small practice where they

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get more,

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hands on. They have

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much bigger role in patient care rather than

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being pigeonholed in, like, a big institution

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where

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they're, like, allowed only seven things, and they're

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pigeonholed, and they stay there for a long,

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long time.

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So with a practice like Mann, people can

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grow, develop professionally,

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and have a lot more, I guess, satisfaction

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in in my opinion. And people seem to

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respond to that.

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And as outpatient care continues to grow,

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how do you see the role of ASCs

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evolving within the broader health care ecosystem?

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So

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ASCs, I think,

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the way,

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having worked in a hospital for a long

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time,

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I think that ASCs

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seem like to be poised

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to play a very important role

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in

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delivering health care in these days. I mean,

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the things we do in ASCs today are

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were unheard of even ten, fifteen years ago.

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And I think the patients enjoy that. They

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like

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the immediacy and the quality of care they

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get.

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And, also, definitely, the cost savings from a

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good ASC

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is,

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I think, critical. I think going forward,

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I see more and more ASCs being a

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part of the solution.

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And then as we round out our conversation,

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many organizations are exploring new technologies, partnerships, or

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care models to improve efficiency and outcomes. So

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are there any innovations or initiatives that you've

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found particularly promising?

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So I think

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we can't talk about any advance of disruption

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without talking about AI.

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So that's kind of something we're exploring,

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from simple

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documentation

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to all the way to RCM and,

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patient experience management.

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As a small practice, it becomes a little

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bit more challenging, but I think that's down

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the pipe, and we'll all be dealing with

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that.

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The

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other efficiencies

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are, I think, patients being more and more

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involved in their own care. I think it

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it's been where

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patients were trained that somebody else is responsible

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for their health care. And I think people

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are starting to realize the out of pocket

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cost and what they're doing. I think that's

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helping

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in many ways,

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to provide better care.

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And

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the other,

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promising,

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areas

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just to the payer,

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the payment reimbursement structure is

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the conventional insurance based models are getting tighter

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and tighter, and both employers,

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patients, and independent doctors like ourselves,

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the practices

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are looking at alternate models of payment, like

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debt care,

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working

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with employees and employers

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and providing true value.

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Because right now with the conventional model, we're

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paying so much for administrative cost and

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unnecessary

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diversion to profits and other things. So I

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think

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this is pushing people more towards value based

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care. And that's by that, I mean, true

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value based where the value is decided by

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the employer and the

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patients who are actually paying for it.

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Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for taking

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the time to be here. Is there anything

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else you'd like to share that we didn't

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touch on today?

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I think you, touched on most of the

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issues we're dealing with today. But

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like I said, it's an exciting time to

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be in the health care profession. The technology,

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not just in pain, is just exploding.

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And we I think we will figure out

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how to pay for this and how to

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take care of patients in the long run.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you again, for being on

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the Becker's Healthcare podcast, and we are recording

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live at the twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic

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and Pain Management Conference. Thank you. It's my

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pleasure.