1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,319
Are your patients looking for an easy way

2
00:00:02,319 --> 00:00:04,480
to pay for health care? Want to level

3
00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:06,639
up the way you do business? Then the

4
00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:09,199
CareCredit health and wellness card just might be

5
00:00:09,199 --> 00:00:09,859
the answer.

6
00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,539
For over 30 years, CareCredit, a Synchrony solution,

7
00:00:13,759 --> 00:00:16,454
has been providing patients with a modern, flexible

8
00:00:16,454 --> 00:00:18,375
way to pay for their health and wellness

9
00:00:18,375 --> 00:00:18,875
expenses.

10
00:00:19,414 --> 00:00:22,875
CareCredit seamlessly integrates with your business, helping minimize

11
00:00:23,015 --> 00:00:25,975
account receivable, all while your patients enjoy budget

12
00:00:25,975 --> 00:00:27,595
friendly financing options.

13
00:00:28,054 --> 00:00:30,214
To learn more about how CareCredit works for

14
00:00:30,214 --> 00:00:31,274
you and your patients,

15
00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:32,420
visit carecredit.comforward/beccarspodcast.

16
00:00:36,399 --> 00:00:38,640
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

17
00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,039
podcast, and we are live at the business

18
00:00:41,039 --> 00:00:42,899
and operations of ASCs.

19
00:00:43,535 --> 00:00:46,655
I'm currently joined by Gabriel Figueroa, who is

20
00:00:46,655 --> 00:00:49,715
an administrator and the COO of Manhattan Reproductive

21
00:00:49,935 --> 00:00:52,655
Surgery Center. Gabriel, thanks for joining me today.

22
00:00:52,655 --> 00:00:54,175
Would love to have you start off by

23
00:00:54,175 --> 00:00:56,594
introducing yourself a little bit further and expanding

24
00:00:56,655 --> 00:00:57,875
on your work in the industry.

25
00:00:58,479 --> 00:01:01,619
First, thanks for having me. We, Manhattan Reproductive

26
00:01:01,679 --> 00:01:04,719
Surgery Center, is single specialty surgery center located

27
00:01:04,719 --> 00:01:05,379
in downtown

28
00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:06,900
Manhattan, and we're

29
00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,439
the only surgery center in the entire state

30
00:01:09,439 --> 00:01:12,819
that focuses purely on women's health and fertility.

31
00:01:13,385 --> 00:01:15,784
So it's almost a hyper specialty of GYN

32
00:01:15,784 --> 00:01:18,265
where we've everything that we do is optimizing

33
00:01:18,265 --> 00:01:19,484
our patients for pregnancy.

34
00:01:20,424 --> 00:01:22,905
Wonderful. Well, thank you for being here. And

35
00:01:22,905 --> 00:01:24,045
let's start our conversation

36
00:01:24,344 --> 00:01:28,020
with ASC volume. So countrywide, this is expected

37
00:01:28,020 --> 00:01:29,560
to increase by 16%

38
00:01:30,340 --> 00:01:31,400
by the year 2032.

39
00:01:32,260 --> 00:01:34,099
With this growth, what is the most pressing

40
00:01:34,099 --> 00:01:37,459
challenge to maintaining a positive patient experience that

41
00:01:37,459 --> 00:01:38,599
you are finding?

42
00:01:39,954 --> 00:01:41,655
Well, I think there's a lot of challenges,

43
00:01:41,715 --> 00:01:44,834
obviously, when you start talking about increases in

44
00:01:44,834 --> 00:01:47,094
volume, whether that be dramatic or incremental.

45
00:01:47,715 --> 00:01:49,974
But I think I'd like to focus on

46
00:01:50,275 --> 00:01:53,655
probably where things start, and that's your scheduling

47
00:01:53,875 --> 00:01:54,375
and

48
00:01:55,060 --> 00:01:55,880
booking departments.

49
00:01:56,500 --> 00:01:58,340
That's kind of that's the inception of the

50
00:01:58,340 --> 00:01:58,840
case,

51
00:01:59,299 --> 00:02:00,280
and everything

52
00:02:00,740 --> 00:02:02,500
sort of starts there. So you need to

53
00:02:02,500 --> 00:02:03,159
make sure

54
00:02:03,460 --> 00:02:06,200
that you have a robust infrastructure in place,

55
00:02:06,659 --> 00:02:09,480
the workflows and processes in order to absorb

56
00:02:10,034 --> 00:02:10,534
whatever

57
00:02:11,235 --> 00:02:11,735
expected

58
00:02:12,354 --> 00:02:14,594
increases in volume that you're gonna have. This

59
00:02:14,594 --> 00:02:17,875
has residual impacts throughout the continuum of the

60
00:02:17,875 --> 00:02:19,655
entire operations of the ASC.

61
00:02:20,114 --> 00:02:22,914
So I I really believe that taking it

62
00:02:22,914 --> 00:02:24,294
from sort of the very

63
00:02:24,730 --> 00:02:26,810
beginning start of the process is something that

64
00:02:26,810 --> 00:02:27,310
is

65
00:02:27,770 --> 00:02:28,270
critical.

66
00:02:28,810 --> 00:02:31,469
It has residual effects, like I said, to

67
00:02:31,770 --> 00:02:32,750
insurance verification,

68
00:02:33,770 --> 00:02:35,069
your PAT process,

69
00:02:35,530 --> 00:02:36,030
etcetera.

70
00:02:37,224 --> 00:02:39,705
Absolutely. And and going along with that, what

71
00:02:39,705 --> 00:02:42,344
strategies have worked for your organization in tackling

72
00:02:42,344 --> 00:02:43,165
these challenges?

73
00:02:43,465 --> 00:02:45,465
And what's one recommendation you have for health

74
00:02:45,465 --> 00:02:47,165
care leaders to stay ahead of them?

75
00:02:48,264 --> 00:02:50,025
Well, I think you have to take a

76
00:02:50,025 --> 00:02:50,525
strategic

77
00:02:50,939 --> 00:02:53,840
perspective here when you're looking at different solutions

78
00:02:54,060 --> 00:02:56,060
and tactics in order to implement some of

79
00:02:56,060 --> 00:02:56,879
these challenges.

80
00:02:57,259 --> 00:02:59,039
The first one I would say is

81
00:02:59,580 --> 00:03:02,560
really invest and integrate into a strong EMR.

82
00:03:03,215 --> 00:03:05,534
Most of the the new EMRs on the

83
00:03:05,534 --> 00:03:07,635
market now come with tools

84
00:03:08,175 --> 00:03:10,175
that going that are going to expand your

85
00:03:10,175 --> 00:03:11,794
bandwidth in terms of

86
00:03:12,094 --> 00:03:12,915
front office

87
00:03:13,294 --> 00:03:13,794
operations.

88
00:03:14,574 --> 00:03:15,314
For example,

89
00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,139
we've implemented Sys Complete,

90
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:20,680
and that gives us the ability to use

91
00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,639
tools like Syslink, which allows the physicians to

92
00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,139
book directly into the schedule from their offices.

93
00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:28,860
It also has the ability to send

94
00:03:29,305 --> 00:03:31,705
readmission testing questionnaires to the patients and having

95
00:03:31,705 --> 00:03:33,884
them fill that out via

96
00:03:34,584 --> 00:03:37,884
a text or email. That's increased our efficiency.

97
00:03:38,745 --> 00:03:42,230
Automated insurance verification is another thing where you

98
00:03:42,230 --> 00:03:44,949
wanna make sure that you're getting that insurance

99
00:03:44,949 --> 00:03:45,449
verification

100
00:03:46,230 --> 00:03:48,069
done as quickly as possible so that you

101
00:03:48,069 --> 00:03:50,389
can communicate back to the patient what kind

102
00:03:50,389 --> 00:03:52,250
of out of pocket financial responsibilities

103
00:03:52,550 --> 00:03:54,870
there might be. This has a really big

104
00:03:54,870 --> 00:03:56,169
impact on their satisfaction.

105
00:03:56,955 --> 00:03:57,455
Examples

106
00:03:57,995 --> 00:04:01,355
like confirmation calls and the PAT process can

107
00:04:01,355 --> 00:04:04,254
be cumbersome, particularly when you're experiencing

108
00:04:05,034 --> 00:04:06,575
big upticks in volume.

109
00:04:07,034 --> 00:04:08,415
The staff becomes stressed.

110
00:04:09,034 --> 00:04:10,814
Their customer service may wane.

111
00:04:11,194 --> 00:04:13,430
Patients might start to get anxious

112
00:04:14,209 --> 00:04:16,149
or uncertain about when their procedures

113
00:04:16,449 --> 00:04:18,449
is going to actually happen because they haven't

114
00:04:18,449 --> 00:04:20,550
received a phone call. So I believe

115
00:04:21,410 --> 00:04:22,949
tackling it from this perspective,

116
00:04:23,889 --> 00:04:26,209
we've really implemented a lot of this stuff

117
00:04:26,209 --> 00:04:26,870
to mitigate

118
00:04:27,944 --> 00:04:30,985
any decreases in patient satisfaction by implementing all

119
00:04:30,985 --> 00:04:31,644
these things.

120
00:04:32,425 --> 00:04:34,904
And shifting gears just a little bit to

121
00:04:34,904 --> 00:04:37,784
the financial side, how can leaders ensure their

122
00:04:37,784 --> 00:04:40,125
staff are well equipped to help patients navigate

123
00:04:40,344 --> 00:04:42,829
financial aspects of care? And how does this

124
00:04:42,829 --> 00:04:44,769
benefit patient provider relationships?

125
00:04:45,790 --> 00:04:47,389
Yeah. I mean, it's a great question. I

126
00:04:47,389 --> 00:04:49,730
think first and foremost, you have to have

127
00:04:49,870 --> 00:04:50,610
an established

128
00:04:51,550 --> 00:04:54,990
set of financial guidelines that are set, understood,

129
00:04:54,990 --> 00:04:57,455
and followed. And and that has to go

130
00:04:57,595 --> 00:04:59,375
not just with your your

131
00:04:59,915 --> 00:05:02,154
front office staff, but that has to be

132
00:05:02,154 --> 00:05:04,574
acknowledged and accepted by the physicians as well.

133
00:05:05,035 --> 00:05:08,074
How quickly insurance verification is done, like I

134
00:05:08,074 --> 00:05:10,415
was mentioning before, after a case is scheduled,

135
00:05:10,829 --> 00:05:13,389
is key to being able to communicate any

136
00:05:13,389 --> 00:05:16,209
issues or problems back to the physician's office

137
00:05:16,509 --> 00:05:17,250
and patients.

138
00:05:17,709 --> 00:05:19,790
Right? Patient never wants to show up on

139
00:05:19,790 --> 00:05:21,629
the date of service and get a surprise

140
00:05:21,629 --> 00:05:23,790
invoice. Right? Nobody called me and told me

141
00:05:23,790 --> 00:05:24,990
that I was gonna have this out of

142
00:05:24,990 --> 00:05:27,334
pocket. So the sooner you can get ahead

143
00:05:27,334 --> 00:05:27,914
of that,

144
00:05:28,375 --> 00:05:29,675
the better for everyone.

145
00:05:30,055 --> 00:05:31,735
You know, if there's an issue where a

146
00:05:31,735 --> 00:05:33,595
patient has a financial hardship

147
00:05:33,975 --> 00:05:34,794
or is

148
00:05:35,095 --> 00:05:37,495
unable to proceed forward with the surgery, you

149
00:05:37,495 --> 00:05:39,414
wanna make sure you're communicating that to the

150
00:05:39,414 --> 00:05:42,110
surgeon's office as soon as possible to mitigating

151
00:05:42,110 --> 00:05:43,250
any last minute cancellations,

152
00:05:43,949 --> 00:05:45,410
move up cases, etcetera.

153
00:05:45,949 --> 00:05:48,129
So every effort really has to be made

154
00:05:48,270 --> 00:05:50,189
prior to the data service to be as

155
00:05:50,189 --> 00:05:53,149
transparent and communicated as possible with patients in

156
00:05:53,149 --> 00:05:54,770
regards to financial responsibility.

157
00:05:55,324 --> 00:05:58,305
You never wanna put your clinical staff

158
00:05:58,685 --> 00:06:00,925
in a situation where they're having to either

159
00:06:00,925 --> 00:06:02,544
explain financial responsibility

160
00:06:03,165 --> 00:06:05,725
because they're not equipped with that knowledge or

161
00:06:05,725 --> 00:06:06,944
information, typically.

162
00:06:07,564 --> 00:06:09,584
And it also delays surgical flaw.

163
00:06:10,029 --> 00:06:11,870
And as we wrap up here, do you

164
00:06:11,870 --> 00:06:13,389
have any parting words you'd like to share

165
00:06:13,389 --> 00:06:14,529
on the podcast today?

166
00:06:14,990 --> 00:06:16,509
No. I'm just excited to be here. Thank

167
00:06:16,509 --> 00:06:18,829
you so much for inviting me, and, look

168
00:06:18,829 --> 00:06:21,310
forward to doing it again. Wonderful. Well, thank

169
00:06:21,310 --> 00:06:23,069
you so much. Again, we are live at

170
00:06:23,069 --> 00:06:25,089
the business and operations of ASCs.

171
00:06:25,994 --> 00:06:26,814
Thank you.