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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 of ASC's events.

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I am joined right now by doctor Tripp

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Gordon, who is a co medical director

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at Northway Surgery and Pain Center. Doctor Gordon,

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thanks so much for joining me. Would love

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to start off by having you introduce yourself

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and tell us a little bit more about

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your work in the industry.

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Grace, thank you for having me here. I'm

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a solo practitioner

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in upstate New York based in Clifton Park

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and Queensbury.

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We have 2 offices

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and a surgery center in Clifton Park, New

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York.

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Surgery center is a 10,000 square foot 4

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OR surgery center.

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I partner with another pain management provider.

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And between us, we also share some other

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offices. We have 5 offices total

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with 4 operating rooms outside the surgery center.

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So in total, we have 8

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operating rooms, so we can shift our patients

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back and forth as needed

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based on whatever circumstances may dictate.

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Wonderful. Well, thank you for being here, and

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let's start our conversation with talking about ASC

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volume. So this is expected to increase

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countrywide

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by 16% by the year 2032.

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So with this growth, what are the most

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pressing challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience?

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Yeah. Grace, when I look at that number,

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it's it's startling because our biggest impediment in

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moving patients into the surgery center, getting them

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taken care of

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is dealing with the insurance companies.

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And the throughput

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with the insurance companies is just a major

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resistor

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to getting patients cared for. We can get

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them in our office quickly. We can get

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them scheduled quickly,

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but we can take care of them efficiently

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and effectively.

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But we just have a hard time as

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most

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practitioners do in dealing with the impediments

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from all the different insurance companies that we

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deal with. A 100%.

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And kind of going along with that, what

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strategies have worked for your organization in tackling

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this insurance challenge? And what's one recommendation you

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have for health care leaders to stay ahead

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of these challenges?

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The the one main focus we have is

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trying to be patient centric. So

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that extends not just in the medical care

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part of it, but in educating them on

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their insurance, educating them on how to deal

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with their insurance,

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trying to sometimes guide them away from different

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insurance companies that are, you know, somewhat predatory

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or predatory on their patients

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and guide them to companies that may be

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more helpful in providing

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adequate

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and effective care.

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Patients

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really get very, very frustrated and will turn

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away from the practice.

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If you can move them through, they really

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don't care why. But if you educate them,

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maybe guide them, move them to effective, you

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know,

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insurance platforms

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that can make a big difference.

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100%.

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And how can leaders ensure their staff are

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well equipped to handle and help patients navigate

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the financial aspects of their care? And how

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does this benefit patient provider relationships?

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I think

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you can't

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focus on your staff until you focus on

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yourself. You need great advisors.

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You need great help. You need great, you

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know, you need to start with a group

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of

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staff, whether it's your nurse practitioners,

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your front desk,

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even your billing people

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that understand

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we're starting with a patient.

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We're educating you on what, giving you what

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you need to

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1, care for them well,

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provide a good plan of care

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and move them through to, effective treatments in

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a rapid fashion.

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So what we do is I what I

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personally do is, you know, obviously, here at

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Becker's conference,

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Becker's rise a great, you know, you can

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follow the platform from their emails and,

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you know, and events

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to working with

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good accounting firms, good legal staff, good. And,

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and very importantly, having a great backup. My

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CEO is, who happens to be my wife

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is a nurse with a healthcare MBA. And

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having that in house

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is a tremendous

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benefit to our staff and our patients

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and, to really keeping me sane.

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Absolutely.

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And as we wrap up here, is there

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anything else you'd like to share on the

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podcast or any closing words you have?

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I think,

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you know, it's a broad question and there's

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so many thoughts going through my head.

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But I but I wanna emphasize the fact

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that you really need

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great backup.

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You need to

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remain educated. You mean to

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work with your staff and help them through

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their, their struggles.

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Oftentimes I'll have a staff member or nurse

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practitioner that will come to me and say,

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I don't know, I can't deal with this

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patient. They've got so many problems, they're difficult

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to deal with.

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And I'll say, let's break it down. You

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know, we're here to help them.

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They've got joint problems, they've got back problems,

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they've got neck problems.

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We can do so much for this patient.

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We can help

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change their life.

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So really break it down

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with your patients and point out what your

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plan of care is. How are you gonna

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move them to a better spot by delivering

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their care in an effective and efficient manner?

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Wonderful. Well, doctor Gordon, thanks so much for

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joining me today on the Becker's healthcare podcast.

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Again, we are live at the business and

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operations of ASCs.

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Thank you, Grace.