1 00:00:00,130 --> 00:00:03,530 Would you like to exchange best practices and ideas to improve care, 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:05,530 enhance operational efficiency, 3 00:00:05,590 --> 00:00:07,930 and address financial challenges with your peers? 4 00:00:08,610 --> 00:00:12,330 Becker's Healthcare is facilitating these conversations at their eighth annual 5 00:00:12,510 --> 00:00:15,330 health, it digital health and R C M meeting. 6 00:00:15,670 --> 00:00:19,570 You can check your eligibility for complimentary attendance at the link in the 7 00:00:19,570 --> 00:00:22,010 description. We are excited to welcome you in October. 8 00:00:23,270 --> 00:00:25,600 This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 9 00:00:26,300 --> 00:00:29,880 I'm thrilled today to be joined by Christopher Alt Chief Revenue Officer at 10 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:31,560 Cooper University Hospital. Christopher, 11 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,160 it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. 12 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:35,730 Yeah, thanks for having me, Laura. Happy to be here. 13 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,770 Fantastic. Well, I know we have a lot to talk about today. 14 00:00:39,770 --> 00:00:42,370 There's so much happening in healthcare and really a lot changing. 15 00:00:42,610 --> 00:00:47,130 I know we spoke a bit last fall and, and even since then a lot has happened. 16 00:00:47,190 --> 00:00:50,370 So I'm looking forward to our conversation and your expertise here. 17 00:00:50,390 --> 00:00:52,330 But before we dive into the broader discussion, 18 00:00:52,330 --> 00:00:54,250 can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background? 19 00:00:55,650 --> 00:00:59,820 Sure. I currently work at Cooper University Healthcare, Camden, New Jersey. 20 00:01:00,220 --> 00:01:03,860 I serve as our Chief revenue officer overseeing all of the revenue related 21 00:01:04,180 --> 00:01:07,900 functions for the health system. Uh, Cooper's a level one trauma center, 22 00:01:08,420 --> 00:01:12,020 academic medical center. Uh, we've got over a hundred outpatient locations, 23 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,020 urgent care, um, all the subspecialties you can think of, um, 24 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:18,433 and, and, uh, 25 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,620 one main hospital here in the city of Camden with about 650 beds. 26 00:01:22,970 --> 00:01:27,020 I've been here since 2018 and, uh, 27 00:01:27,110 --> 00:01:31,100 we've seen tremendous growth over those last five or six years. Uh, 28 00:01:31,100 --> 00:01:35,100 when I got here, the health system was about 1,000,000,002 in, in net revenue, 29 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,380 and this year we will hopefully exceed 2 billion. So, um, 30 00:01:38,410 --> 00:01:40,820 it's been a very fun experience, uh, 31 00:01:40,820 --> 00:01:43,660 having been at Cooper thus far and looking forward to what's to come. 32 00:01:45,070 --> 00:01:47,370 That's an amazing growth over the last few years, 33 00:01:47,470 --> 00:01:49,210 and especially on the revenue side. And, 34 00:01:49,210 --> 00:01:53,050 and during a time when it's been challenging for a lot of organizations, um, 35 00:01:53,190 --> 00:01:57,330 you know, through the pandemic to really, um, stay successful. 36 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,250 When you look at your strategy, um, for growth and development, 37 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,170 what are some of the the things that you think have, have been really key, uh, 38 00:02:05,430 --> 00:02:07,970 for you to have been successful over the last few years? 39 00:02:09,430 --> 00:02:13,960 Yeah, it's, it, it, we have been very fortunate. Um, you know, a large, 40 00:02:14,090 --> 00:02:18,680 large portion of our revenue growth is related to growth in number of providers, 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,200 right? And so we have done a lot of investment in expanding our, 42 00:02:22,380 --> 00:02:25,800 our clinical footprint in South Jersey, um, and, 43 00:02:25,940 --> 00:02:28,920 and doing all that we can to serve the communities, um, 44 00:02:29,110 --> 00:02:32,840 that we're fortunate enough to serve and keep business in New Jersey. Uh, we, 45 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,160 you know, we, we saw maybe a decade ago, 46 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,440 a lot of out migration from New Jersey into Philadelphia for, uh, 47 00:02:40,510 --> 00:02:44,760 specialized care. And we've made a lot of investments to, uh, 48 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,800 provide that care here right at, in the patient's backyard. And so, um, 49 00:02:49,740 --> 00:02:54,480 you know, the other thing that supported our growth has been, uh, enhanced, uh, 50 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,160 managed care rates and, and revenue cycle processes. Um, 51 00:02:58,580 --> 00:03:03,360 to answer your question about how we have experienced such growth, 52 00:03:03,610 --> 00:03:06,800 while, you know, the industry faces a lot of headwinds. I mean, we, 53 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,880 we haven't been immune to the headwinds right, over the last couple of years, 54 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,200 particularly with the pandemic and coming outta the pandemic. You know, we, 55 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:18,360 you and I talked last time a lot about payer behavior and the challenges around 56 00:03:18,590 --> 00:03:22,120 increased audits and retrospective reviews of medical necessity, 57 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,600 things like that. We've not been immune to those things. Um, but we were, 58 00:03:25,940 --> 00:03:30,440 you know, call it luck or, or, um, you know, good strategy. 59 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:31,760 But pre pandemic, 60 00:03:31,820 --> 00:03:35,880 we invested a lot of time and resources and people 61 00:03:36,710 --> 00:03:39,200 into establishing, um, 62 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,120 a centralized training and education function that supports all the growth we've 63 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:45,400 had. So, um, 64 00:03:45,860 --> 00:03:50,680 we have one team here at Cooper that is responsible for and is the source of 65 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:55,000 truth for all things revenue cycle throughout the enterprise, uh, which has, 66 00:03:55,030 --> 00:03:59,080 it's, it's been a great foundation for us to scale growth on top of. Um, 67 00:03:59,340 --> 00:04:02,520 and as we've grown in terms of number of providers and locations and, 68 00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:04,960 and all those sorts of things, we've got this, 69 00:04:05,350 --> 00:04:10,080 this underlying chassis of training and 70 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:11,000 education that, 71 00:04:11,150 --> 00:04:16,000 that has allowed us to not experience a lot of headaches, uh, 72 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,800 that we may have otherwise had to go through. So, um, 73 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:21,360 I credit a lot of it to that. 74 00:04:23,370 --> 00:04:24,890 Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. You know, 75 00:04:24,890 --> 00:04:28,370 and it was really great to hear you have that type of foresight down there and, 76 00:04:28,370 --> 00:04:31,650 and could really fortify, uh, the revenue cycle and, 77 00:04:31,810 --> 00:04:35,890 and whatever possible, I guess, um, ahead of the pandemic, 78 00:04:36,130 --> 00:04:38,410 although obviously it's hard to predict that, but really, you know, 79 00:04:38,410 --> 00:04:42,250 just being able to be in a solid place, um, and have a great strategy, uh, 80 00:04:42,590 --> 00:04:44,850 as the foundation going forward. Now, 81 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,210 what are some of the opportunities as well as the headwinds that you have your 82 00:04:48,270 --> 00:04:49,010 eye on right now? 83 00:04:49,010 --> 00:04:53,290 I know you mentioned already kind of some of the regulatory challenges and the 84 00:04:53,290 --> 00:04:55,730 different policies coming from payers, um, that, 85 00:04:55,730 --> 00:04:58,210 that can keep you up at night. Um, you know, 86 00:04:58,210 --> 00:04:59,930 what's the landscape escapee like now? 87 00:04:59,990 --> 00:05:01,970 Do you see any changes in one direction or another? 88 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,260 So in terms of the payer behavior and regulatory sort of climate, um, 89 00:05:08,890 --> 00:05:12,580 it's not changed much. And I think, you know, more than anything we're, 90 00:05:12,580 --> 00:05:13,860 we're trying to figure out how we, 91 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,700 how we batten down the hatches and how we prepare for that for the next five or 92 00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:22,340 10 years. Um, I don't anticipate that, um, 93 00:05:22,530 --> 00:05:26,460 legislation at the state or federal level is gonna sway necessarily in the 94 00:05:26,700 --> 00:05:29,220 provider's favor. If you, if you, if you read, um, 95 00:05:30,220 --> 00:05:32,540 a lot of what's going on in the press, um, 96 00:05:32,540 --> 00:05:36,780 there's a lot of focus on cost and price transparency and a lot of, um, 97 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:38,673 you know, 98 00:05:38,900 --> 00:05:43,260 a lot of pressure on hospitals to justify the small margins that we already 99 00:05:43,260 --> 00:05:46,180 make. So, um, we're really focused on how do we, 100 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,580 how do we support growth of the organization without continuing to 101 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,980 add necessarily the, the one-to-one, uh, f t e count, 102 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,400 and how do we get smart with labor? 103 00:05:58,900 --> 00:06:02,120 How do we attract people to come work at Cooper, and then once they're here, 104 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,880 how do we keep them here? Um, you know, 105 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,920 healthcare and more specifically, 106 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,880 revenue cycle within healthcare is not a field that most people dream of going 107 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:17,760 into. I mean, I think talk to anybody, um, who's been in it a long time, 108 00:06:17,790 --> 00:06:22,160 they fell into it, right? For one reason or another. And so, you know, 109 00:06:22,180 --> 00:06:25,880 we have really been talking a lot about career laddering, 110 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,640 professional development. How do we invest in, 111 00:06:28,870 --> 00:06:30,640 once we can attract the right talent here, 112 00:06:31,300 --> 00:06:35,680 how do we invest in them to keep them here, um, keep them engaged, 113 00:06:35,830 --> 00:06:39,920 keep them growing, um, to develop the next generation of leaders because, 114 00:06:40,780 --> 00:06:45,000 um, it's just, it's a really difficult industry to recruit into. 115 00:06:45,580 --> 00:06:48,920 And, uh, particularly when you, when you think about, you know, 116 00:06:48,980 --> 00:06:53,680 remote work and flexibility of, of work arrangements and things like that, um, 117 00:06:54,130 --> 00:06:58,760 healthcare has always sort of lagged behind, um, you know, 118 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,520 over the, with the pandemic and, 119 00:07:00,580 --> 00:07:04,920 and the unfortunate onset of all that that brought with it, uh, 120 00:07:05,070 --> 00:07:09,560 that changed. And some of that was for the good. I think candidly, 121 00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:13,480 as an industry, we probably move too quickly in one direction, but we had to, 122 00:07:14,100 --> 00:07:17,360 um, and now I think if, you know, depending on who you talk to, 123 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,280 I think everyone's trying to figure out where's the middle, right? How do we, 124 00:07:22,750 --> 00:07:26,120 like, where does this ultimately settle in terms of working from home and, 125 00:07:26,460 --> 00:07:31,240 you know, productivity management and quality management, and how do we, um, 126 00:07:32,060 --> 00:07:35,720 you know, call what revenue cycle's so diverse just within itself, 127 00:07:35,870 --> 00:07:40,120 between registration and coding and billing and case management, scheduling, 128 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,000 training, education. Um, not all of those jobs are the same. 129 00:07:44,060 --> 00:07:48,360 Not all of them come with the same capabilities of remote work. 130 00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:49,500 Um, 131 00:07:49,500 --> 00:07:54,360 and so trying to figure out a standardized way is probably not 132 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:55,920 the, not the best approach. It's, 133 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,440 it's how do you come up with the way that works the best for everyone while 134 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,640 being able to, you know, serve the customized needs of, of each of those groups. 135 00:08:04,820 --> 00:08:06,520 And so, you know, we spend, 136 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,080 that's what we spend a lot of our time talking about now is, 137 00:08:09,300 --> 00:08:12,160 is what's that look like and what are the investments we need to make now? 138 00:08:12,670 --> 00:08:14,800 What should we be thinking about, um, 139 00:08:15,380 --> 00:08:19,080 so that we can do our jobs as good financial stewards for the health system, 140 00:08:19,570 --> 00:08:23,840 while also being there to support what the growth that, um, you know, 141 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,800 we expect to achieve. So yeah, I said a lot, but I, you know, there's a lot, 142 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,640 a lot, a lot of challenges going on right now, 143 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,920 but I think there's solutions and, you know, whoever does it best will win, 144 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:35,360 and that's what we're focused on. 145 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,600 Absolutely. I think that makes a lot of sense. And, 146 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,280 and definitely it was fascinating to hear you talk about, uh, 147 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:45,040 bringing in the next generation of healthcare revenue cycle leaders. 148 00:08:45,230 --> 00:08:49,360 Certainly it's an important field and so important for any hospital or health 149 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:50,720 system to have, uh, 150 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,440 those leaders in place that are going to make sure that on the financial side of 151 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:55,800 things, um, you know, 152 00:08:55,820 --> 00:08:59,600 you're doing what you can in order to stay in a great place and be solid to 153 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,760 provide care going forward. And, you know, when you're looking at, um, 154 00:09:03,060 --> 00:09:06,520 the workforce, whether it's, you know, the, the, um, 155 00:09:07,020 --> 00:09:10,360 up and coming leaders or those who are just entering the field as well as those 156 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,440 who are maybe seasoned veterans or from other industries, 157 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:17,640 are there any trends that you're noticing in what they really are expecting and 158 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,760 looking for in the workplace and in what they really appreciate? Or, um, 159 00:09:22,060 --> 00:09:26,520 you know, what does that look like for you? What has, uh, have you noticed in, 160 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:31,080 in, are working towards, um, making available to your team? Well. 161 00:09:31,590 --> 00:09:35,990 That's the hardest part is that this generation, the next generation of leaders, 162 00:09:36,330 --> 00:09:40,550 um, you know, the, the folks who are, or recent graduates of college, 163 00:09:40,810 --> 00:09:44,230 the 22 to 25 or six year olds call it, um, 164 00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:50,470 they have a very wide ranging set of 165 00:09:51,300 --> 00:09:53,350 preferences in relation to, 166 00:09:53,650 --> 00:09:57,030 or as in regards to kind of where they wanna work and what they want that to 167 00:09:57,030 --> 00:09:58,510 look like. And so, you know, 168 00:09:58,510 --> 00:10:01,910 it goes back to this one size fits all approach is probably not gonna work 169 00:10:01,910 --> 00:10:05,870 anymore. Um, but at the same time, 170 00:10:06,370 --> 00:10:09,670 you can't have a hundred different offerings for a hundred different people 171 00:10:09,670 --> 00:10:13,310 because it's impossible to manage. And so, you know, that's what, that's, 172 00:10:13,310 --> 00:10:16,430 that's, I don't necessarily have a great answer. It's just, you know, the, 173 00:10:16,450 --> 00:10:18,670 the question was how do, what are the headwinds? Um, 174 00:10:18,740 --> 00:10:21,750 this is number one on my mind is, you know, 175 00:10:22,450 --> 00:10:25,390 for the last decade plus, um, most of the folks who, 176 00:10:26,210 --> 00:10:29,070 if you walked around a business office or you walked around any kind of rev 177 00:10:29,070 --> 00:10:29,903 cycle area, 178 00:10:29,990 --> 00:10:33,470 a lot of the folks that you would run into are people who had been there for 15 179 00:10:33,470 --> 00:10:36,310 or 20 years. Um, and, you know, 180 00:10:36,310 --> 00:10:41,190 they grew a loyalty to the organization and they grew to appreciate the 181 00:10:41,430 --> 00:10:45,430 benefits, um, that come with, you know, being an employee of a health system, 182 00:10:45,930 --> 00:10:50,830 you know, medical benefits, 4 0 3 B matches, all those kinds of things. Uh, 183 00:10:51,010 --> 00:10:52,110 but this is a different, 184 00:10:52,580 --> 00:10:57,070 different climate and a different labor market and a different set of 185 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,110 folks coming into the workforce. And, um, you know, I think as an industry, 186 00:11:02,110 --> 00:11:06,990 we have to figure out what the right offering is that's gonna track those 187 00:11:06,990 --> 00:11:10,710 people because we're losing them to, to banks and, and, 188 00:11:10,850 --> 00:11:13,870 and manufacturing and, um, you know, 189 00:11:14,770 --> 00:11:19,590 any other industry that's more flexible, more forward-thinking, more remote. Um, 190 00:11:21,620 --> 00:11:25,600 we just, we need to, as a whole, I think we need to, um, 191 00:11:26,010 --> 00:11:30,360 speed up a little bit the thought process around how we attract that next 192 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,080 generation, um, and how do we grow and develop them. 193 00:11:33,260 --> 00:11:37,320 The hardest thing for me to figure out, quite honestly is, 194 00:11:38,060 --> 00:11:42,640 um, in this world of flexible work arrangements and, and remote work, 195 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,200 which I support, uh, to some extent, I think there's a lot of value to it. 196 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:48,640 The question is how do you teach people, 197 00:11:49,740 --> 00:11:53,040 how do you teach them the application of their work? I mean, mean, 198 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,840 I think in rev cycle specifically, uh, 199 00:11:55,870 --> 00:12:00,680 there's so much value to a registrar knowing what a biller 200 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:01,560 does and vice versa, 201 00:12:02,060 --> 00:12:07,000 and there's so much value to the scheduling people sitting arm in arm with 202 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,960 the authorization team. Um, there's so much handoff. 203 00:12:12,220 --> 00:12:12,880 Uh, 204 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:17,240 I I think that in-person comradery is something that we built a lot of success 205 00:12:17,260 --> 00:12:19,440 on over the years, not just at Cooper, but as a whole. 206 00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:22,940 And so what's the right way to do that? Uh, 207 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:27,420 how do you train a 25 year old analyst, for instance, about 208 00:12:29,150 --> 00:12:31,330 the application of the denial work that they're doing? 209 00:12:31,430 --> 00:12:35,570 How do you teach them what really goes on within case management and what may 210 00:12:35,570 --> 00:12:39,450 have caused that denial in the first place at registration without being able to 211 00:12:39,450 --> 00:12:42,130 touch and feel it? I think, you know, it's not that it's impossible, 212 00:12:42,130 --> 00:12:43,850 it's just we have to figure out a different way to do it. 213 00:12:43,850 --> 00:12:47,850 And I don't think we're there yet. Um, again, not just at Cooper, I think, 214 00:12:48,030 --> 00:12:51,090 you know, more globally, we're just, we're just not there, uh, 215 00:12:51,190 --> 00:12:55,770 to figure out that development path. And so that's, that's the, that's the, 216 00:12:55,910 --> 00:12:57,810 the majority of my focus, our focus. 217 00:12:58,660 --> 00:13:01,250 Those are such huge issues to grapple with. And like you said, 218 00:13:01,270 --> 00:13:04,050 across not only healthcare organizations, but industries too, 219 00:13:04,210 --> 00:13:08,370 I know here at Becker is we have a similar challenge of trying to just make sure 220 00:13:08,370 --> 00:13:11,850 that as we work together, cross-departmentally and now, uh, 221 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,330 very much either hybrid or remote, it, it's a lot to, uh, 222 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,250 instill our culture and make sure that we're not missing anything, 223 00:13:19,250 --> 00:13:20,370 missing any links and, 224 00:13:20,370 --> 00:13:24,290 and continuing to do the great things that we are aiming to do, um, 225 00:13:24,290 --> 00:13:28,010 within the organization. So I think that's so critical and, 226 00:13:28,010 --> 00:13:31,890 and definitely something that, um, you know, we don't have a solution yet for, 227 00:13:31,950 --> 00:13:35,370 but it'll be fascinating to see how that grows and develops in the future. 228 00:13:35,550 --> 00:13:39,930 And speaking of that, what are some of the best opportunities that you see, um, 229 00:13:39,950 --> 00:13:42,530 for adding value to the organization overall? 230 00:13:42,670 --> 00:13:46,530 How do you think about growth in particular if you're able to look into a 231 00:13:46,530 --> 00:13:48,250 crystal ball for the next couple years here? 232 00:13:50,110 --> 00:13:54,890 So, to answer the first part of your question about value, um, we, you know, 233 00:13:54,890 --> 00:13:59,730 we're an overhead area, right? We're, we're, um, we cost the organization money. 234 00:14:00,110 --> 00:14:04,810 And so our focus every year is how do we pay for ourselves, uh, 235 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:06,570 year in and year out? How do we, 236 00:14:06,790 --> 00:14:11,570 how do we provide incremental value to the bottom line that supports 237 00:14:11,830 --> 00:14:15,970 the investment and resources that we consume? Uh, that's number one. 238 00:14:15,990 --> 00:14:18,930 And I think every overhead area in any health system ought to think that way 239 00:14:18,930 --> 00:14:20,330 because, um, 240 00:14:21,730 --> 00:14:26,410 ultimately you're eating into the margin if you're not adding to it. Um, 241 00:14:26,910 --> 00:14:30,970 and then in terms of growth, you know, Cooper, specifically around Cooper, 242 00:14:31,060 --> 00:14:34,370 we've got a lot of exciting things on deck. Um, 243 00:14:35,300 --> 00:14:40,050 we're opening a new 160,000 square foot facility local to us that's gonna be 244 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,970 kind of an ambulatory hub for, um, 245 00:14:44,990 --> 00:14:48,930 all of our specialties that we offer here and be able to provide our world-class 246 00:14:48,930 --> 00:14:53,400 cancer care, uh, out in there, out, out in that, um, out in that area, 247 00:14:53,860 --> 00:14:56,520 as well as bring all of our, um, you know, 248 00:14:56,530 --> 00:15:01,440 orthopedic and neurological and other subspecialty expertise out to the folks in 249 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,520 that region. So that'd be, that's extremely exciting for us, and we plan to, 250 00:15:04,780 --> 00:15:09,040 to continue that strategy over the next few years. Um, you know, 251 00:15:09,580 --> 00:15:12,880 new Jersey's a very interesting state in terms of healthcare. There's a lot of, 252 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,840 there's been a lot of m and a over the last few years, 253 00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:19,640 and so it remains to be seen what will happen with that. But, uh, 254 00:15:19,690 --> 00:15:22,960 we're very well positioned in this area to, to, uh, you know, 255 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,840 control our own destiny and, and, and we provide amazing care to, 256 00:15:28,340 --> 00:15:31,920 uh, a community that we take a lot of pride in serving. Um, 257 00:15:32,660 --> 00:15:36,040 and so what does growth look like? I mean, you know, for us, uh, 258 00:15:36,220 --> 00:15:40,920 as a revenue cycle unit, um, and within our managed care team, 259 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:41,873 I think growth is, 260 00:15:42,300 --> 00:15:47,160 is about doing all of the right things to develop our workforce so 261 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,640 that in 10 or 15 years, uh, 262 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,400 whoever the next person you're talking to sitting in my chair, 263 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,240 hopefully it's still me, but you never know. Um, you know, they are, 264 00:15:57,430 --> 00:15:59,080 they are armed with a, 265 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,600 a workforce that is well positioned to continue the success that, uh, 266 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,040 we've been able to enjoy. And so I think, you know, 267 00:16:07,550 --> 00:16:12,160 take a lot of pride in preparing the next generation succession 268 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,400 planning, uh, training, education, all those kind of things we've talked about, 269 00:16:16,780 --> 00:16:21,740 you know, so far, how do we hardwire success for the next five or 10 years? Um, 270 00:16:23,350 --> 00:16:27,200 that is where our focus is, and that's what growth looks like to me. So, um, 271 00:16:27,630 --> 00:16:31,960 yeah, a lot, a lot going on, a lot of exciting stuff, but it's, you know, 272 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,520 without challenge, in my opinion, it's not very much fun. 273 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:37,560 I love that. Thank you so much, Christopher, 274 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:38,840 for joining us on the podcast today. 275 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,800 This has been a fun discussion and certainly excited to see you at our events 276 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:43,633 this fall as well. 277 00:16:44,340 --> 00:16:46,270 Yeah, my pleasure. Look forward to seeing you. Thank you. 278 00:16:50,900 --> 00:16:54,150 It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations to keep learning, 279 00:16:54,300 --> 00:16:55,950 stay sharp, grow their networks, 280 00:16:56,300 --> 00:16:59,390 help our audience better do this in a more simplified, personalized, 281 00:16:59,390 --> 00:17:03,590 and meaningful way. Becker's Healthcare has launched my b h c, 282 00:17:04,060 --> 00:17:07,070 it's your trusted Becker's healthcare experience and more with content, 283 00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:09,350 connections, events, and learning opportunities, 284 00:17:10,060 --> 00:17:14,870 join the community free of charge@www.my dot becker's hospital 285 00:17:14,870 --> 00:17:16,590 review.com, and we'll see you there.