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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
podcast, and we are live at the business
and operations of ASCs.
I am joined now by Jacob Rodman, who
is the CEO at Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic. Jacob,
thanks for joining me today. Would love to
have you introduce yourself and explain a little
bit more about your role in the industry
as we get started. Yeah. Happy to. Thanks
for having me. My name is Jacob Rodman.
I'm the CEO of Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic. We're
in Raleigh, North Carolina.
We're a private physician owned group celebrating our
70th year in business this year.
We have our own ambulatory surgery center that
focuses on spine and pain,
that's been open about two and a half
years now.
Wonderful. Well, thanks for being here. And let's
start our conversation today talking about ASC volume.
So across the country, this is expected to
increase by 16%
by 2032.
With this growth, what is the most pressing
challenge to maintaining a positive patient
patient experience?
Yeah. I think with the ASC growth, number
one thing is staffing, and I think that
is constantly coming up, especially at this conference.
Second thing is anesthesia coverage.
Both seem to be in short supply across
the country. And so to kinda match and
meet the demands of the growth, we we've
gotta figure out how to how to continue
to recruit and retain top staff and then
how best to deliver anesthesia care in our
surgery center.
Absolutely. And going off of that, what strategies
have worked for your organization to tackle some
of these challenges? And what's one recommendation you
have for healthcare leaders to stay ahead? Yeah.
I think number one challenge, and I think
strategy, I'm sorry for, for staffing is just
recruiting and and, you know, trying to get
the best of the best and
paying them, what what they deserve to be
paid,
engage them in changes we're making in the
center, you know, that involve
everybody,
from top to bottom in those changes.
I think it's va it's wildly,
valuable, and
I think the staff enjoys it. They feel
like they're part of the decision making process.
So that's that's worked for us. Mhmm. And
shifting gears slightly into the financial side, how
can leaders ensure staff are well equipped to
help patients navigate financial aspects of care? And
how does this benefit patient provider relationships?
Yeah. One one of the biggest complaints we
get is the the lack of understanding from
patients on the the revenue side and billing.
So I think the more knowledgeable our team
members are, especially when they're having those conversations,
I just I was just on a panel
about data driven cultures and ASCs.
And one of the things we talked about
was, you know, our worst,
responses and reviews
aren't aren't about care delivered in the ASCs.
It's about the lack of understanding of the
billing cycle.
And so clearly, as I said, we're not
doing the the the best we can on
the front end. So we've gotta be better
about that. And to be better at explaining
that there's a facility fee, a surgeon fee,
and a anesthesia fee, understanding what the patient's
out of pockets are. We fully have to
understand our contracts, understand where the patients are
in their benefit cycles, and then be able
to clearly communicate that to them.
Absolutely.
And as we round out our conversation, are
there any parting words you'd like to share
on the podcast today?
No. I I think, you know, these meetings
are always so valuable.
I started coming here before our center was
open. It was an idea. And, so I've
been fortunate that I've been coming to Becker
since the beginning of our journey on our
ASC path. Like I said, we've been open
about two and a half years now.
But I think ASCs
are obviously the wave of the future.
You know, we're in North Carolina. It's a
c o n state.
That's changing at the end of next year.
And it sounds like it's gonna get even
a little bit, looser than it is now.
So I I think people are recognizing the
value of ASCs and that it's a place
where patients can get great, effective, safe care,
that's much,
more cost efficient for the payers and for
patients. So I think, you know, understanding all
we can, supporting each other, especially the private
ASCs in the world,
we gotta do do a great job supporting
each other. So Wonderful. Well, Jacob, thanks so
much for joining me today on the Becker's
Healthcare Podcast. Again, we are live at the
business and operations of ASCs. Thank
you.
Thank
you.