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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 Ala Abda Asayed, who

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is the medical director at U Wisconsin.

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So thank you so much for joining me

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today.

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Let's have you start off by sharing a

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little bit more about yourself and your work

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in the ASC space. Oh, thank you for

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having me. I'm a pain physician and an

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anesthesiologist at University of Wisconsin,

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where I work in the inpatient sitting and

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an ambulatory sitting,

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clinic,

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two surgical centers, and the care for patients

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both on the hospital grounds and ambulatory,

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surgical centers and also at clinic setting.

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Wonderful.

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And let's start by talking about the ASC

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market. Because in The US, it's projected to

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reach $60,800,000,000

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by 2030,

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and it continues to experience strong year over

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year growth. So So from your perspective, what

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are the most significant trends in market forces

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driving this expansion, and how should ASC leaders

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be preparing today?

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It's a very good question. And I think

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the expansion in ASCs, as you mentioned, is

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inevitable. It's happening, and it's happening fast.

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And there are many reasons because it's, it's

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owned by,

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smaller groups,

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typically, so they have more control, more autonomy,

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can control the finances, which, always you wanna

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think of the ins and outs, which is

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different than being in gigantic health care system,

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which you probably have less control over those,

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finances.

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So I think it's a growing model. I

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think it's a good model. And I think

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when you develop those models, you always look

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for efficiencies, which are good for patients as

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well. Like, again, quick surgeries in and out,

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you try not to keep them in the

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hospital,

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which is good not only financially, but also

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for the health and wellness of patient just

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to be home on the same day.

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And from AI and robotic surgeries to advanced

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EHR systems, technology remains both a major break

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factor and a critical driver of ASC operations

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at scale. So how do you see Zebra

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Tech integration shaping the way ASCs deliver care

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and manage their business over the next few

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years? That's a very good question. And as

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we speak here, in the conference about,

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the different AI platforms,

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AI will make things very smooth, very quick,

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will,

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help the shortage of staff that we are

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encountering nowadays at all, grounds in the operating

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room and outside the operating room,

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which will allow for more efficiencies and not

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counting on the, I would say, filling the

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gaps in in a staff shortage.

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So this integration is very helpful, and I

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think will lead to more efficient health care

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system and ASC operations.

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And follow-up to that. Is there any specific

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technology or innovation that stands out to you

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as especially transformative in the space?

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I would say it's hard to pick up

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only one, but, the main one that we're

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all excited about is use AI, for example,

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for appeals because that's a very tedious process,

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very lengthy,

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and require a lot of labor work.

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So AI in in appeals has been very

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successful in reversing a lot of those appeals,

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which again leads to our patient be able

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to get the care they, deserve, but using

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it in scribing, use it in encoding.

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I think these are very good steps that

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not only will make it efficient, but will

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make it maybe more accurate,

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and then will reduce the back and forth

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with insurance and, will reduce errors in coding,

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and can provide the more of

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a safety quality check for everybody using those

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technologies.

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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, what opportunities do you

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see for collaboration whether with providers or vendors

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to strengthen patient care and operational efficiency?

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ASCs became, more of, like, a big ship

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that require multiple,

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like, parties to be involved. So those collaborations

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are very good because,

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you know, the joint ventures allow for

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a stronger foundation because everybody will have skin

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in the game. Everybody will work on success,

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of the ASC rather than just being owned

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by individual or a small group.

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So those,

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I would say, venture,

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joints,

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will lead to just

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better patient care, more patient volumes, stronger financial.

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And I'll keep talking about the financial strengths

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because it's very important to maintain any enterprise.

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So I think this is gonna just make

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it a lot stronger and will attract more

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patient to this model.

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Well, thanks so much for joining me today

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on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast a lot. Is

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there anything else we didn't touch on or

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any final thoughts you'd like to share?

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No. Thank you. And, I appreciate the opportunity

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always to be here because,

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I always

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enjoy talking about AI, which is a future

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of health care.

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And,

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seeing always, the this progression in the conference

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and the focus in AI is very intriguing.

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So thank you. Wonderful. Well, again, we are

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recording live at the thirty first annual business

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and operations of ASCs.

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Thank you.