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visit carecredit.comforward/beccarspodcast.

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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

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Podcast, and we are live at the business

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and operations

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of ASCs.

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I am joined right now by Michael Patterson,

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who is the president and CEO of Mississippi

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Valley Health. Michael, thanks for joining me this

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morning. Would love to have you start by

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taking a moment to introduce yourself and telling

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us a little bit more about your work

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in the industry.

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Thank you. I'm, president and CEO of Mississippi

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Valley Health. We have a couple of, surgery

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centers that are large multi specialty surgery center

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and a GI focused surgery center, both located

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in Iowa. And I'm also the past president

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of the ambulatory surgery center association.

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So, I served on their board in several

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of their, subcommittees and have been in the

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industry for probably 20 plus years now.

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Wonderful. Well, thanks for taking the time to

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be here. I'd love to start our conversation

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by talking about ASC volume that's expected to

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increase across the country by 16% by 2032.

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So with this growth, what is the most

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pressing challenge to maintaining a positive patient experience?

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I I think the biggest

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opportunity we have is, retention. We talk a

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lot about recruitment of nursing

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techs and our support staff, but we don't

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talk enough about retention.

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And I think the longevity

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of staff in a facility and an organization

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creates a better experience for patients.

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And I think that, you know, we've spent

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some

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some time targeting how do we not only

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recruit folks, but better yet, how do we

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retain the folks that we have that are

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amazing

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caregivers, people that know the business, know how

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to work with patients around billing,

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and also can ensure a safe, effective, and

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and quality experience while they're at the surgery

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center.

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And what strategies have worked for your organization

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to tackle some of those challenges?

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And what's one recommendation you have for health

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care leaders to stay ahead?

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As leaders, you know, we do a lot

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of talking, and I think we probably need

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to do a lot more listening.

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And we've made a focus effort to listen

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to what our employees

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not only want, but what they need.

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And that I think has been instrumental in

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our success for retention and recruitment.

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I think if you really understand

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the changing dynamic of the workforce,

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where that's going and really wanna understand what

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makes people happy with coming to work every

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day,

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then I think that leads to a better

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patient experience. I think it leads to a

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better employee experience.

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And given, the challenges that that we're all

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facing in health care, I think we need

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to do a lot more listening.

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And how can leaders ensure their staff are

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well equipped to help patients navigate the financial

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aspects of care, and how does this benefit

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patient provider relationships?

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Health care is one of those interesting,

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segments where you can walk in and have

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no idea

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what the cost is gonna be before you

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have a procedure done. I mean, you take

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your car into the shop, you know what

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it's gonna cost to give you an estimate.

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You go to the grocery store, you know

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what you're gonna pay because the prices are

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posted.

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And I think that health care, we struggle

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with that challenge because sometimes we don't actually

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know, depending on CPT codes, what a patient's

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bill is going to look like. But I

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think the software is getting better. I think

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the ability to really understand

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the payer platforms.

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And so what we're doing is actually upfront

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collections.

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In the last year or so, we are

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collecting over 95%

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of our patients' co pays upfront, so they

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actually understand what's coming out of their pocket.

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You know, they they don't worry as much

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about what the insurance company is gonna pay.

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But for sure, when it comes down to

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their deductible and any co pays they have,

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I think it's on us. It's an imperative

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that we really

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help patients understand exactly

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what that bill is gonna look like. And

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there are ways in which now there are

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software programs and other areas in which we

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we can do that a lot more effectively

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than what we could do just 5 years

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ago.

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Absolutely.

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And as we wrap up, are there any

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parting words you'd like to share or anything

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else you'd like to discuss on the podcast?

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So the one piece that I would tell

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everyone listening, if you're part of the ASC

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community,

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that they need to be a member

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of ASCA.

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We need a voice in DC. We need

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a voice at the state level. And there's

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no better organization than ASCA

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to be