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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 recording live at the

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thirty first annual business and operations of ASCs.

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I'm currently joined by Carrie Marut, who is

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the administrator at Mentor Surgery Center. Carrie, thanks

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for joining us today. Let's kick off by

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having you share a little bit about yourself

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and your work in the ASC space. Well,

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first of all, thank you for having me.

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I started in the ASC space about five

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years ago.

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I was working at a large hospital

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organization

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running the operating room, same day surgery,

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pain management,

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endo, CS, all the things that, come in

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with the surgery space. The doctors recruited me

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to come over to the ASC side as

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a director of nursing and then the administrator

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shortly after that. And I've been there ever

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since. I'm an RN by trade, but love

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the administrative world.

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Wonderful. Well, thanks for taking the time to

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be here.

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And let's start our conversation

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talking about the ASC market. Because in The

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US, this is projected to reach 60,800,000,000.0

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by 2030

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and continues to experience strong year over year

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growth. So from your perspective, what are the

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most significant trends in market forces driving this

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expansion, and how should ASC leaders be preparing

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for today?

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I think a lot of the force that's

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driving

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the, expansion of ASCs are actually patients.

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You know, patients come into an ASC. It's

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a little bit more formal or less formal

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than a hospital space. They feel a little

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bit more comfortable

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with the atmosphere.

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It's a little less expensive when you look

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at their deductibles

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that they have to pay,

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and, it's actually way more efficient.

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So

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the partnership with larger hospitals

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and them looking out for the benefit of

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their patients,

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I feel like, is a is a huge

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factor. I think people should just be prepared

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to have a a higher rate of patients

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coming through their door,

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look at their turnovers,

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look at

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their,

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greeting the patients, and making the patients just

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feel as most comfortable as possible.

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Absolutely.

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And from AI and robotic surgeries to advanced

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EHR systems,

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technology remains both a make or break factor

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and a critical driver of ASC operations at

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scale. So how do you see deeper tech

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integration shaping the way ASCs deliver care and

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manage the business over the next few years?

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It's kind of funny. We, started out and

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when I became, administrator over at the ASC,

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we were actually charting on paper still, which

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I believe a lot of people still do.

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We've integrated,

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an EHR recently into our surgery center.

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And

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the actual

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time that the nurses get to spend with

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the patients

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went up because of the EHR.

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Everything is really nice. It's pretty much prepopulated

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for you in that. And it's a few

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questions and click of the button, and basically,

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your medical record is done. And so it

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allows the nurses

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to engage with the patients, talk to them

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a little bit more, make them feel more

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comfortable on the settings.

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We do not currently have robotics, but, I

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know just from past experience at the hospitals

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that robotics also is huge,

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in how quickly patients can get in and

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out and how less invasive some of the

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procedures can be. And so I think in

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the ASC space, it's also,

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a a great thing to have. I wish

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we did.

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But, unfortunately,

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we're love to grow a little bit more

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first.

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Absolutely.

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And with 60% of health systems considering ASC

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joint ventures and many ASCs already partnering with

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systems in their communities,

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what opportunities do you see for collaboration, whether

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with other providers or vendors to strengthen

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to strengthen patient care and operational efficiency?

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I think collaboration is important in any adventure,

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and ASC especially, whether it's with your vendors

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that you choose to help streamline

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your billing

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or collecting

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or anything in your space when it comes

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to supplies,

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how to make your operation more efficient, anything

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like that that you can do and you

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find a good partner who sees the same

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vision as you do, it's off,

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obviously,

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a greater experience

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for the patient.

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As far as, joint ventures go, it's always

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nice to have a partnership with a larger

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organization

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who can also drive patients to your ASC.

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And, honestly,

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it's it's just better for the patients. I

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mean, the experience, like I said earlier,

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the cost,

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to operate in an ASC versus,

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a hospital

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and getting those patients there and the procedures

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there that can be done in an ASC

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is just gonna make health care and patients,

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you know, just so much happier.

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Absolutely. Well, Carrie, thanks so much for joining

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me today. Is there anything we didn't touch

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on or any final thoughts you'd like to

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share on the podcast?

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I just really,

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appreciate being here.

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Thanks

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to Alec for having me from CareCredit.

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And, I hope that next year I'm able

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to do the same. Wonderful. Well, thanks so

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much. And again, we are recording live at

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the thirty first annual business and operations of

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ASCs. Thanks so much.