1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,960 Hello. This is Franchesca Matthews with the Becker's 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:04,179 ASC review podcast. 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:06,399 I'm thrilled to be joined today by Leslie 4 00:00:06,399 --> 00:00:06,899 Jepsen, 5 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,400 administrator of the Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Network 6 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,639 at Prisma Health. Leslie, thank you so much 7 00:00:12,639 --> 00:00:13,699 for being here today. 8 00:00:14,105 --> 00:00:15,625 Pleasure is all mine. Thank you for the 9 00:00:15,625 --> 00:00:16,125 opportunity. 10 00:00:16,984 --> 00:00:17,564 Of course. 11 00:00:17,945 --> 00:00:20,024 To start off, could you please introduce yourself 12 00:00:20,024 --> 00:00:21,384 and tell us a little bit about your 13 00:00:21,384 --> 00:00:21,884 background? 14 00:00:22,425 --> 00:00:24,265 I'd be happy to. So I've been a 15 00:00:24,265 --> 00:00:26,984 practicing health care executive for the past, twenty 16 00:00:26,984 --> 00:00:27,724 five years. 17 00:00:28,439 --> 00:00:30,059 I've worked all over the country, 18 00:00:30,759 --> 00:00:33,640 in a broad array of roles from finance 19 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:35,020 to operations to clinical 20 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:36,039 and, 21 00:00:36,679 --> 00:00:39,320 both in academic settings and in private practice 22 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:39,820 settings. 23 00:00:40,554 --> 00:00:42,795 Currently, for the past two years, I've been 24 00:00:42,795 --> 00:00:45,295 with Prisma Health in South Carolina where, 25 00:00:45,914 --> 00:00:48,655 I have the great fortune of overseeing orthopedics 26 00:00:48,795 --> 00:00:51,054 and sports medicine for the entire state. 27 00:00:51,754 --> 00:00:53,195 225 28 00:00:53,195 --> 00:00:53,695 clinicians 29 00:00:54,159 --> 00:00:56,579 specializing in specializing in comprehensive musculoskeletal 30 00:00:57,039 --> 00:01:00,739 care, with outpatient rehabilitation services as well. 31 00:01:01,439 --> 00:01:04,079 Excellent. I'm actually from South Carolina, so always 32 00:01:04,079 --> 00:01:04,819 nice to 33 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,694 hear others from the South. And we take 34 00:01:07,694 --> 00:01:09,234 care yeah. We take care of Clemson, 35 00:01:09,614 --> 00:01:11,775 South Carolina State, and the University of South 36 00:01:11,775 --> 00:01:14,194 Carolina. Do you have any allegiances by chance? 37 00:01:14,415 --> 00:01:16,094 I do. I am a Gamecock. My mom 38 00:01:16,094 --> 00:01:17,855 went to USC, but I'm from Charleston, so 39 00:01:17,855 --> 00:01:19,474 I'm more of a a city slicker. 40 00:01:22,209 --> 00:01:24,129 And what are the top three trends that 41 00:01:24,129 --> 00:01:26,469 you're following in health care and ASCs today? 42 00:01:27,250 --> 00:01:29,170 Yeah. Well, you know, health care is a 43 00:01:29,170 --> 00:01:32,150 perpetually dynamic environment. We we know this. 44 00:01:32,849 --> 00:01:35,810 As it pertains to outpatient surgery centers, you 45 00:01:35,810 --> 00:01:38,004 know, I I say what's old is new 46 00:01:38,465 --> 00:01:38,965 again. 47 00:01:39,504 --> 00:01:41,584 When I started my career over twenty years 48 00:01:41,584 --> 00:01:42,084 ago, 49 00:01:42,465 --> 00:01:43,444 there was a proliferation 50 00:01:43,825 --> 00:01:44,724 of retail, 51 00:01:45,665 --> 00:01:48,965 ASCs, that were were predominantly multi specialty. 52 00:01:49,980 --> 00:01:51,980 And then there was some some growth and 53 00:01:51,980 --> 00:01:52,959 then some consolidation 54 00:01:53,260 --> 00:01:56,700 and closures and hospital systems acquiring them. And 55 00:01:56,700 --> 00:01:58,219 at least in this part of the country, 56 00:01:58,219 --> 00:01:58,540 there's, 57 00:01:59,180 --> 00:02:01,979 the same movement again, with the elimination of 58 00:02:01,979 --> 00:02:04,560 the certificate of need in South Carolina. There's 59 00:02:04,825 --> 00:02:07,385 a proliferation of efforts and plans by an 60 00:02:07,385 --> 00:02:09,884 array of health care systems to develop ASCs. 61 00:02:10,504 --> 00:02:12,425 Not all of them will be successful for 62 00:02:12,425 --> 00:02:14,205 a broad array of reasons, but, 63 00:02:14,824 --> 00:02:16,764 there's there's certainly high growth, 64 00:02:17,349 --> 00:02:20,090 taking place in the Southeast with the retail 65 00:02:20,150 --> 00:02:22,009 ASCs. And so I think those that are 66 00:02:22,229 --> 00:02:23,449 singularly special, 67 00:02:23,750 --> 00:02:24,969 in the way of ophthalmology 68 00:02:25,509 --> 00:02:26,650 or GI endoorthopedics, 69 00:02:27,909 --> 00:02:29,370 you know, will be best positioned 70 00:02:29,669 --> 00:02:30,889 to to be successful. 71 00:02:32,235 --> 00:02:35,114 Mhmm. Yeah. Definitely been following a lot of 72 00:02:35,114 --> 00:02:37,275 those certificate of need updates, and there's a 73 00:02:37,275 --> 00:02:38,094 lot of interesting 74 00:02:38,555 --> 00:02:40,574 stuff going on in the Southeast overall. 75 00:02:41,914 --> 00:02:44,334 What are you most excited about right now? 76 00:02:45,219 --> 00:02:46,020 Excited is, 77 00:02:46,580 --> 00:02:47,080 opportunity, 78 00:02:47,540 --> 00:02:48,020 to, 79 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:49,000 showcase 80 00:02:49,460 --> 00:02:51,620 the great depth and expertise that we have 81 00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:53,620 in Muscus Development Care in my in my 82 00:02:53,620 --> 00:02:54,520 current role. 83 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:57,719 On a broader level, I'm really, really excited 84 00:02:57,780 --> 00:02:58,280 about 85 00:02:58,794 --> 00:03:01,375 artificial intelligence and surgical robotics. 86 00:03:01,835 --> 00:03:03,294 I think you're gonna see, 87 00:03:03,915 --> 00:03:06,574 more of that enter into the ambulatory arena. 88 00:03:06,875 --> 00:03:08,254 There there's no doubt, 89 00:03:08,794 --> 00:03:09,275 from, 90 00:03:09,675 --> 00:03:10,175 robotics, 91 00:03:10,715 --> 00:03:12,175 doing, you know, high volume, 92 00:03:12,650 --> 00:03:14,590 robotic assisted surgery centers. 93 00:03:14,969 --> 00:03:16,990 I think we'll we'll continue to proliferate. 94 00:03:17,849 --> 00:03:19,689 I think AI is gonna help us get 95 00:03:19,689 --> 00:03:22,810 even slicker on our scheduling and and and 96 00:03:22,810 --> 00:03:25,710 analyzing key metrics in real time more than 97 00:03:26,205 --> 00:03:29,564 retrospective analysis of performance. And those are gonna 98 00:03:29,564 --> 00:03:31,185 help, you know, what I'll call 99 00:03:31,644 --> 00:03:33,185 f one high performance, 100 00:03:34,844 --> 00:03:36,844 teams, surgical teams, which I can I can 101 00:03:36,844 --> 00:03:38,205 talk to you a little bit more about? 102 00:03:38,205 --> 00:03:38,669 But 103 00:03:39,069 --> 00:03:40,349 I'm most excited about AI and, 104 00:03:41,389 --> 00:03:43,569 and its applications. Surgical robotics, 105 00:03:44,590 --> 00:03:46,590 would be would be the top topics. And 106 00:03:46,590 --> 00:03:50,030 then the evolving landscape with our ability to 107 00:03:50,030 --> 00:03:50,530 partner 108 00:03:51,395 --> 00:03:54,435 directly, you know, physicians directly partnering with industry 109 00:03:54,435 --> 00:03:55,334 vendors to 110 00:03:55,634 --> 00:03:58,854 really get precise case management cost predictions, 111 00:03:59,715 --> 00:04:01,555 I think that's that's gonna be a growing 112 00:04:01,555 --> 00:04:02,694 movement as well. 113 00:04:03,250 --> 00:04:05,810 Yeah. Absolutely. Lots to to sort of look 114 00:04:05,810 --> 00:04:07,110 forward to there. I'm curious, 115 00:04:07,729 --> 00:04:09,269 what are some of the ways that 116 00:04:09,650 --> 00:04:12,069 you all have been incorporating AI or evaluating 117 00:04:12,370 --> 00:04:14,769 how you might incorporate incorporate AI at, 118 00:04:15,409 --> 00:04:17,029 at your practice, if any? 119 00:04:17,375 --> 00:04:18,435 Yeah. No. Absolutely. 120 00:04:18,814 --> 00:04:21,694 We are in the process. October 1, we'll 121 00:04:21,694 --> 00:04:22,754 be rolling out, 122 00:04:23,455 --> 00:04:24,194 a comprehensive, 123 00:04:25,295 --> 00:04:26,115 AI solution 124 00:04:26,735 --> 00:04:28,995 for all of our appointment scheduling, 125 00:04:29,870 --> 00:04:32,110 both in our ambulatory clinics and and doing 126 00:04:32,110 --> 00:04:33,329 some work with ASCs. 127 00:04:34,110 --> 00:04:34,849 So streamlining 128 00:04:35,149 --> 00:04:36,209 the, precertification 129 00:04:36,669 --> 00:04:39,009 workout process, the scheduling process, 130 00:04:39,389 --> 00:04:40,289 prior authorization 131 00:04:40,589 --> 00:04:42,289 precerts for for procedures 132 00:04:42,589 --> 00:04:45,544 will be will be, AI associated. 133 00:04:46,204 --> 00:04:48,644 So, we I've got two or three vendors 134 00:04:48,644 --> 00:04:51,204 that we're working with, and, we're excited to 135 00:04:51,204 --> 00:04:52,964 be kicking that off in time for our 136 00:04:52,964 --> 00:04:54,104 new fiscal year. 137 00:04:54,724 --> 00:04:56,805 Very cool. Yeah. There's so much buzz around 138 00:04:56,805 --> 00:04:58,709 AI right now. It's always just really nice 139 00:04:58,709 --> 00:05:01,430 to get real insights from, administrators as to, 140 00:05:01,430 --> 00:05:03,449 you know, what's working and what's not. 141 00:05:03,910 --> 00:05:05,430 Yeah. The key the key is to use 142 00:05:05,430 --> 00:05:07,290 it as an adjunct. Right? 143 00:05:07,670 --> 00:05:09,750 I think there's some fear, and I think 144 00:05:09,750 --> 00:05:10,810 it's very reasonable, 145 00:05:11,735 --> 00:05:14,235 that there's fear about loss of jobs 146 00:05:14,774 --> 00:05:17,334 and and things of that nature. But instead, 147 00:05:17,334 --> 00:05:19,974 I would submit to you that, Ambient AI 148 00:05:19,974 --> 00:05:22,474 is helping, clinicians with transcription. 149 00:05:23,495 --> 00:05:25,550 I I can't, you know, can't understand the 150 00:05:25,550 --> 00:05:27,629 evolution that's taken place in in that space 151 00:05:27,629 --> 00:05:29,490 and continues to to go forward. 152 00:05:30,189 --> 00:05:32,509 So I don't see AI and maybe I'm 153 00:05:32,509 --> 00:05:34,589 naive, but I don't see AI taking over 154 00:05:34,589 --> 00:05:38,245 reading, imaging studies anytime soon, but really assisting, 155 00:05:38,305 --> 00:05:40,305 serving as an adjunct to the clinician and 156 00:05:40,305 --> 00:05:43,105 helping them work smarter. They already work hard 157 00:05:43,105 --> 00:05:45,185 enough as it is. So, just to help 158 00:05:45,185 --> 00:05:47,745 work smarter. And and for us, our focus 159 00:05:47,745 --> 00:05:50,865 is largely on administrative functions and how we 160 00:05:50,865 --> 00:05:52,084 can automate that. 161 00:05:52,650 --> 00:05:54,569 We're really staying out of the clinical space 162 00:05:54,569 --> 00:05:56,029 from from an AI standpoint. 163 00:05:56,970 --> 00:05:59,930 Mhmm. Yeah. Absolutely. And how are you thinking 164 00:05:59,930 --> 00:06:01,949 about growth over the next twelve months? 165 00:06:02,810 --> 00:06:05,129 Yeah. Well, with my orthopedics and sports medicine 166 00:06:05,129 --> 00:06:06,970 hat on, with my market hat on, we're 167 00:06:06,970 --> 00:06:09,285 we're enjoying we're we're market dominant. 168 00:06:10,064 --> 00:06:11,985 We have well over half the state market 169 00:06:11,985 --> 00:06:12,485 share, 170 00:06:12,944 --> 00:06:15,425 for musculoskeletal. We have about 90% of the 171 00:06:15,425 --> 00:06:18,165 market share for pediatric orthopedics for the state. 172 00:06:18,464 --> 00:06:21,764 So we're we're largely dominant. We wanna expand 173 00:06:21,904 --> 00:06:22,404 carefully, 174 00:06:23,740 --> 00:06:25,039 a sustainable growth. 175 00:06:25,579 --> 00:06:28,319 So we have about 5% outpatient visit growth, 176 00:06:28,699 --> 00:06:30,860 for the past twenty four months, so consistent 177 00:06:30,860 --> 00:06:31,360 there. 178 00:06:31,819 --> 00:06:35,519 We're onboarding about 17 more, clinicians this summer, 179 00:06:35,979 --> 00:06:38,240 with the remainder coming on board next month. 180 00:06:38,845 --> 00:06:41,264 And we have about 25 more active recruitments 181 00:06:41,324 --> 00:06:43,485 across the board, across our entire market, which 182 00:06:43,485 --> 00:06:44,625 is 21 counties 183 00:06:44,925 --> 00:06:47,085 is our primary service area, but we we 184 00:06:47,085 --> 00:06:49,504 saw patients for every county in South Carolina 185 00:06:49,564 --> 00:06:50,305 last year. 186 00:06:50,925 --> 00:06:52,625 So it's it's just sustained, 187 00:06:53,004 --> 00:06:54,225 predictable growth, 188 00:06:54,980 --> 00:06:55,460 and, 189 00:06:55,860 --> 00:06:57,240 an imperative to have 190 00:06:57,699 --> 00:07:00,680 seamless orchestration in in how we provide musculoskeletal 191 00:07:01,060 --> 00:07:01,560 services 192 00:07:01,939 --> 00:07:04,340 amongst the care delivery settings. Right? What makes 193 00:07:04,340 --> 00:07:05,960 the most sense for our patients? 194 00:07:06,340 --> 00:07:08,420 Should they be cared for overnight in the 195 00:07:08,420 --> 00:07:08,920 hospital? 196 00:07:09,714 --> 00:07:11,254 Should they be cared for in the ambulatory 197 00:07:11,314 --> 00:07:12,214 surgery setting? 198 00:07:12,514 --> 00:07:14,194 And I think we're we've got our eye 199 00:07:14,194 --> 00:07:15,175 on the future, 200 00:07:15,555 --> 00:07:17,334 which is nano suites 201 00:07:17,634 --> 00:07:20,915 and looking at procedures that will migrate more 202 00:07:20,915 --> 00:07:23,574 to the office setting, which would seem unfathomable 203 00:07:24,035 --> 00:07:27,310 a decade ago. But, you know, carpal tunnels, 204 00:07:27,689 --> 00:07:28,189 diagnostic 205 00:07:28,649 --> 00:07:29,470 knee evaluations, 206 00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:32,730 the scopes, those are those are starting to 207 00:07:32,730 --> 00:07:34,569 to migrate to the office setting, and and 208 00:07:34,569 --> 00:07:35,930 so we wanna be out in front of 209 00:07:35,930 --> 00:07:37,770 that as well. So, you know, for me, 210 00:07:37,770 --> 00:07:39,435 I'm thinking and that goes beyond the next 211 00:07:39,514 --> 00:07:41,294 twelve months. But for me, we're thinking, 212 00:07:41,995 --> 00:07:44,475 where can we provide the highest quality care 213 00:07:44,475 --> 00:07:46,954 at the lowest possible cost for our patients? 214 00:07:46,954 --> 00:07:49,514 And and, and that's what we're, you know, 215 00:07:49,514 --> 00:07:52,495 wrapping our heads around and positioning ourselves for. 216 00:07:53,350 --> 00:07:55,110 Absolutely. I think everything you mentioned there just 217 00:07:55,110 --> 00:07:57,509 really resonates with other things. I've heard from 218 00:07:57,509 --> 00:08:00,870 other administrators and ASC positions, especially the the 219 00:08:00,870 --> 00:08:02,250 sustainable growth aspect. 220 00:08:03,430 --> 00:08:05,029 Is there anything else here that you you 221 00:08:05,029 --> 00:08:06,970 wanna share that we haven't touched on yet? 222 00:08:07,584 --> 00:08:10,084 No. The future is bright for orthopedics 223 00:08:10,544 --> 00:08:11,044 nationally. 224 00:08:11,425 --> 00:08:13,824 The future is very bright for orthopedics in 225 00:08:13,824 --> 00:08:16,245 the Southeast, and it's brightest in South Carolina 226 00:08:16,384 --> 00:08:19,284 and and Tennessee and North Carolina. So, 227 00:08:19,745 --> 00:08:22,404 we're excited about our continued growth journey 228 00:08:23,050 --> 00:08:24,990 and how we can embrace technology 229 00:08:25,290 --> 00:08:27,629 and and have cutting edge facilities, 230 00:08:28,089 --> 00:08:30,329 in support of the wonderful clinicians that I 231 00:08:30,329 --> 00:08:31,229 work for. So, 232 00:08:31,769 --> 00:08:33,610 you know, we're we've got a very bullish 233 00:08:33,610 --> 00:08:34,110 outlook. 234 00:08:35,225 --> 00:08:37,144 Excellent. Well, that is all I have for 235 00:08:37,144 --> 00:08:39,065 you today, Leslie. Thank you so much for 236 00:08:39,065 --> 00:08:41,625 joining us today. It's been a pleasure speaking 237 00:08:41,625 --> 00:08:43,464 with you, and I look forward to connecting 238 00:08:43,464 --> 00:08:44,764 with you again in the future. 239 00:08:45,225 --> 00:08:47,084 Always a pleasure to be part of Becker's. 240 00:08:47,144 --> 00:08:49,350 I for the last, you know, Scott, 241 00:08:50,049 --> 00:08:52,149 met me well over a decade ago, and 242 00:08:52,290 --> 00:08:54,230 and I was able to publish some articles 243 00:08:54,290 --> 00:08:56,290 for him and and participate in some of 244 00:08:56,290 --> 00:08:59,090 the conferences. And and, Becker's has become a 245 00:08:59,090 --> 00:09:01,809 powerhouse, and so we're, we're certainly appreciative to 246 00:09:01,809 --> 00:09:02,769 be a part of it. And thank you 247 00:09:02,769 --> 00:09:04,389 so much for giving me time today.