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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast, and we are live at the business
and operation of ASCs.
I am joined right now by doctor Rick
Ngo, who is a general surgeon at Texas
Hernia and Surgical Specialists. So thank you so
much for joining me today. Would love to
have you introduce yourself and tell us a
little bit more about your role in the
industry.
Thanks for having me, Grace. My name is
Rick Ngo. I'm a private practice general surgeon
with Texas Hernia and Surgical Specialists in Houston,
Texas.
I've been in private practice for over 20
years, and the bulk of my practice is
performed at ambulatory surgery centers, I e ASCs.
And thus,
I've,
make it made it a point to be
really involved in the,
not just the clinical aspects of working on
an ASC, but also the business and operations
of all the processes that go around managing
an ASC.
Wonderful. Well, thanks for being here. And let's
start our conversation today with ASC volume. So
this is expected to increase countrywide
by 16% by the year 2032.
So with this growth, what are the most
pressing challenges to maintaining a positive patient experience?
Well, increases in volume
are great, and they're definitely happening.
We we need to not ever forget,
that
to treat each patient as a human being
and as an individual
and to provide that
caring, service oriented experience from the a to
z, from the the beginning of the scheduling
of the surgery to the, following up and
calling the patient,
after the surgery is performed when they're at
home.
And going along with that, what strategies have
worked for your organization to tackle some of
those challenges, and what's one recommendation you have
for health care leaders to stay ahead?
I would say from a global standpoint, we
just at, at the surgery centers that I
work at, we
try to instill that culture of of service
from beginning to end.
And despite increases in volume, again, which is
a plus,
we wanna make sure that the the patient
is not just a number, but a human
being who's going through a difficult time, and
and being treated as such. So it's on
us to
to instill that culture. And then,
more in the weeds, we wanna instill
processes and operations that increase the efficiency
so we're not sacrificing service and are achieving
the greater volumes that are that are happening.
Absolutely. And shifting gears slightly to the financial
side, how can leaders ensure their staff are
well equipped to help patients navigate that financial
aspect of care, and how does this benefit
patient provider relationships?
It's a great question. The the financial and
insurance aspects around health care and and surgery
can be
extremely,
extremely confusing. So it it's on us as
surgery center owners and leaders to provide our
staff with the most up to date accurate
information regarding
prior authorization policies
and the specific
patient's insurance policy and try to provide that
information to everyone involved in the process
upfront.
That way, they can make an informed decision.
They'd know exactly how much is, their deductibles
going towards this, how much they're gonna be,
personally responsible for.
And that will
ease a lot of the anxiety
intention, you know, regarding the financial aspects of
having a surgery.
This definitely affects the patient provider relationship
when physicians such as myself is involved with
a certain facility that
is very, very transparent, very, very professional regarding
the finances around surgery.
That speaks volume
volumes to, and really contributes to
our reputation as someone who wants to who
cares about the entire patient, not just from
the medical
standpoint from, but from what they also have
to deal with, you know, personally on a
financial level.
Absolutely. And as we wrap up our conversation,
are there any closing thoughts you'd like to
share on the podcast today?
I feel that, COVID, which
impacted the industry negatively at the time, has
been a major contributor to the renaissance of
the ASC industry.
And it's,
if we do this well and and really
always prioritize
patient safety and care,
and then continue to work on improving the
efficiencies around running the ASC
business and industry, then, this, industry will continue
to thrive.
Well, doctor Ngo, thanks so much for joining
me on the Becker's Healthcare podcast today. Again,
we are live at the business and operations
of ASCs. Thanks so much. Thank you.