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forward slash beckerspodcast.

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Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast

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recorded live at the Becker's twenty second annual

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Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management Driven ASC and

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Future of Spine Conference.

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I'm joined today by Janet Carlson, vice president

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of ambulatory operations at Commonwealth Pain and Spine.

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Janet, to start us off, can you please

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share a little bit about yourself and your

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role with your organization?

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Hi. Thank you for having me.

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So I am the vice president of ambulatory

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operations for Commonwealth Pain and Spine. It is

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my role

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to create,

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design,

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and implement,

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and operationalize

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our new ambulatory surgery center platform for Commonwealth

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Pain and Spine. We have a very large

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clinical footprint

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over many states.

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And whenever we have a collection of clinics

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in a certain area, that is where I

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research an opportunity to build new ASCs within

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that clinical regional footprint.

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Awesome. Well, what trends or shifts are you

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seeing right now in the industry, and what

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do you think are the most important for

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industry leaders to pay attention to?

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Great question. So there is a continual and

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steady migration of high acuity cases

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specific to total joints. I would say that

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this also now includes revisions,

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which is a new new case addition for

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total joints in an ASC.

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Obviously, we all know spine, and

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the new one to the table for the

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last few years is cardiovascular.

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I do see a lot more ASCs that

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are creating and implementing in twenty three hour

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observation overnight,

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plan. I've been doing that in my ASCs

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since the mid twenty fifteens.

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I think another trend that we're seeing is

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the destination

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of outpatient surgical care. Patients are much more

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discerning.

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They're researching

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and participating in their own health care. This

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is an opportunity

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for ASCs to distinguish yourself

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and position you and your team to capture

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this new emerging trend.

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As outpatient care continues to grow, how do

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you see the role of orthopedic spine and

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ASCs evolving within the broader health care ecosystem?

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I think it's only can continue to grow.

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That's a natural organic progression.

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With the

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workflows that we have that are enhanced with

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the preoperative

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optimization of the patients,

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with the excellent reproducible

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surgical post op outcomes. We're just going to

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continue to see the migration away from the

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inpatient cases

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to the ambulatory's

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correct site of service, in my opinion.

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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. Are there any innovations or initiatives that

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you found particularly promising?

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Right now, I think there's a lot of

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focus on digital patient engagement

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and communication platforms

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for our patients.

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This is something that I think is an

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opportunity for us to improve on,

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try to eliminate a lot of the preoperative,

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pre assessment testing phone calls that we spend

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hours and hours of labor and time,

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specifically for our registered nurses,

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calling the patients to make sure they're ready

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for surgery.

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I think that that is one of the

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upcoming trends in the ASC space.

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Another one that is specific to orthopedics and

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spine are the smart implants.

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These implants are able to track fusion rates,

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with imaging. It's I think that's very exciting

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technology to be able to do that.

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And, you know,

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back to the travel medicine that I talk

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about, there's an uptick in concierge medicine. Mhmm.

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I think that ASCs are going to see

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and be the recipient

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of this increasing trend.

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And I see this as an opportunity once

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again to position your ASC

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to capture this concierge,

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very bespoke Mhmm. Personalized,

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experience for patients where

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it's individualized.

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They feel

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well taken care of. They they then go

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home and tell everybody Mhmm. In their community

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about it. I I think that travel medicine

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and surgical care will continue to grow. Mhmm.

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And, again, patients are increasingly becoming more educated

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Mhmm.

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About their surgeries, about their health care, and

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they're making decisions,

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on their own and even seeking second opinions.

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Mhmm. Mhmm.

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With that, you you know, financial transparency is

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becoming a more prominent part of the patient

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experience with growing expectations from consumers and health

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care stakeholders alike.

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From your perspective, what does this true financial

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transparency look like in practice?

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And for leaders thinking about the business side,

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especially in in an increasingly consumer driven health

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care environment, how can financial transparency become not

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just a patient win, but also a competitive

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advantage for your organization?

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I think the transparency

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that we adopt and embrace already in the

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ambulatory

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surgical space

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conveys

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very nicely to the financial transparency of your

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ASC.

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I think it is foundational to your success.

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We all know that patients, again, are savvy

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and are shopping around.

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And I think it's

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outstanding to have all of your prices

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transparent for cash pay. Mhmm. I've done that

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for a very long time and seen a

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lot of success.

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There is a trend financially in the ASC

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space where,

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physicians are deciding to opt out of

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any sort of Medicare or payer contracting

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and go to a straight cash bundle model.

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So once again, that's where the transparency

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comes in and is

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key to your success if you go to

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that model Mhmm. Away from the fee for

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service.

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Right. Right. Janet, as we wrap up today,

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is there anything else you'd like to share

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with the audience or touch on that you

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didn't yet?

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We all know that we have challenges in,

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hiring and recruiting

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top talent.

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Once you are able to do so, I

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think we need to have more conversations

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about how to retain Mhmm. The clinical talent

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that is just imperative to your success.

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We know the cost, for example,

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of a registered nurse turnover is significant.

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Mhmm. And if you understand

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how much it costs for a nurse to

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leave and then for a new one to

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join your team and then one

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nurse on your team

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to have to train that new nurse,

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that takes that training nurse out of the

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workflow. So you're paying two RN wages

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to train somebody

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because of the turnover. Right. And so

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I think we can do a much better

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job in creating a culture

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where folks want to stay. Mhmm. We are

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flexible with the staffing.

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Some days, if they want to work twelve

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hour shifts, you can accommodate that. Twelve hour

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shifts, three shifts a week, and maybe the

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next week, do four, nine hour shifts. But

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just be flexible with your team.

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The culture,

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obviously, is imperative.

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Right. And so re retaining, recruiting,

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rewarding,

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incentivizing,

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recognizing these folks are something that we all

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need to keep front and center for successful

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operations.

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Right.

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Awesome. Well, Janet, thank you so much again

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for joining us today on the show. You

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have a lovely rest of your day. Thank

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you for having me. My pleasure.