This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
Emma Kimo, who is a director of nursing
at Manhattan Endoscopy Center. Emma, it's a pleasure
to have you on the podcast today. Thank
you so much for the opportunity and the
privilege but to to participate. Thank you, Laura.
Absolutely. Well, I'm excited for the opportunity to
speak with you because I know there's so
much happening in health care, and particularly
the GI and ask the center space is
just truly fascinating. So I'm excited to hear
your perspective. But before we dive in, can
you introduce yourself and tell us just a
little about your background?
Hello. Thank you.
Personally,
at Manhattan Endoscopy
Center, serving as a director of nursing, next
month is gonna be five years now,
Throughout the changes
of,
not only
our
current
administration,
which we became part of SCA, a much
larger corporation,
and also remaining,
trying to
individualize
our care for our community.
Before that,
it's been
in between hospitals and ASC
most,
the last thirteen years in ASCs and mostly
in administrative positions.
Well, that's great to hear. And, absolutely, I
know, you know, things are kind of constantly
shifting and changing, so I can appreciate,
that flexibility.
Now what are the top three trends that
you're following in health care and ASEs today?
Oh, health care today
and ASEs,
we have grown
so much in the past
thirty years.
From the time they started ASCs in the
seventies to right now has been a big
loop.
And,
from the last, I would say, twenty years,
even more.
In 2010,
there were about 5,000 ASCs in The United
States, and
right now we're like over 11,000.
So
it's
a great growth,
and also the benefits that provide to the
general population,
not only in GI, but in all the
specialties.
And, we haven't stopped really
adapting
to other specialties
into bringing other specialties into ASCs.
So, that is exciting
and beautiful to see.
We are actually seeing some transformation
and the ability to provide care for
the most priority,
except we remain
ASC criteria
specific to for patient safety.
And I think that is very important.
Although there is more and more to be
done in ASCs,
we do maintain that patient safety perspective
and,
a limit to ASCs
one, two, and three.
Even though we do see more acuity in
patients nowadays,
we still remain
providing patient safety.
And also,
well,
with that said, GI has actually been one
of the forefront NISCs
and remains one of them.
But,
in order to
survive,
we see that
we kind
of benefit from extending
our services to other to incorporate other specialties,
other
extend our services.
Our present practice is actually looking forward to
bringing
noninvasive
vein related procedures.
And so that will be a big step
for us to extend our services,
and I'm looking forward to it.
Having had,
experience in a multispecialty
surgery before,
going beyond GI here, it's going to be
amazing.
So,
yeah, bringing
more services,
providing
for more specialties,
and increasing
or within control
our acuity, I think those are the three
main things that I'm looking ahead.
Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. And,
you know, it's particularly intriguing to think about
adding more services and and specialties.
What is it like to prepare for them
and actually bring in a new specialty when
you have a a legacy of being a
a single specialty center in the past? So
how do you have to think differently and
and do things a little bit differently in
order to make that work?
Actually, it is it is it is a
lot of prepare preparation,
involving
special
our consultants
and also,
preparing the terrain,
preparing the environment
to actually
comply with with all,
certificate of need needed to be changed. So,
with that, also we need to prepare to
maintain
not only the standard we and the
physical environment
that we have, but also increasing
our
outlook
and what needs to be done and maintained
in order to add that specialty.
It's it's it's a lot of involvement,
but it's worth it in the long run,
not only because,
expands our services, but also because it prepare
it prepares us for better and more.
Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Thank
you for speaking to it. Now what are
the most exciting things, that are on your
mind right now? What are you looking forward
to?
I'm looking
forward to see what changes is the Federal
Health Administration
going to bring.
Just recently, and we were looking for it,
the OBPS
were,
published for the 2025,
and,
we are okay
considering that could be
a different
panorama
with a 2.9 increase
and also
with the perspective of increasing
older,
more complicated
or previously never thought brought into ambulatory procedures
approved.
So, that is a good thing to see.
And,
but, yes,
we will
I'm looking forward to see what is gonna
bring us the new changes and how we're
gonna adapt to it.
I think we have created,
resilience
in the industry of ambulatory,
and we should be able to add more
in order to provide better
in the whole spectrum of ambulatory care,
not in competition, but in actually association or
in collaboration
with
the,
hospitals.
So
we can be part of the solution
of health care as a in an in
our nation,
if that makes sense. Right?
Absolutely. Absolutely. No. I love that. And I
I think, there's such an important role that
surgery centers and endoscopy centers and, you know,
the outpatient services really plays, especially as more
care goes outpatient and, you know,
the health care system at large is looking
for more ways to,
provide that high value, low cost care.
Correct. Yep. Part of the solution, and that's
what per the perspective will become part of
the solution acting,
should
remain at the as a denominator,
even though there are so many pieces that
are variables,
but it's a fascinating world
to remain in ambulatory.
Absolutely.
Now before we wrap up here, I'm curious,
how are you thinking about growth over the
next twelve months or so? I know we
talked a little bit about that in in,
previously in the conversation, but when you think
about growth even in some of your legacy
services, what does that look like?
So
as
we witness and are part of the ongoing
effort
to become
an affordable
health care
system
nationwide,
I'm looking ahead to see what is it
that changes that are going to accomplish this.
Perhaps not in a turnaround
through that, a 190 degrees,
but little by little,
and,
to solve some of the biggest issues, financial
issues with the health care system.
I believe that ambulatory can provide
a strong,
strong
elements of solution for this,
and but we need to remain aware
of where we're going with it.
And,
so I'm looking to that and at the
same time make sure that we remain competitive.
We remain
applicable to the communities,
not all not all not all cookie cutters.
There are differences, and we need to attain,
attend to those differences because the communities do
deserve that attention.
So, yeah,
changes will be happening,
and I'm looking forward to it
in the next twelve probably
initially twelve months, but it probably will extend
to longer.
Remain safe,
remain best possible
option for
patients,
and as we increase our acuity.
And then,
growing, keep just growing and offering more for
less, if that would be possible.
Somehow, also,
the creations of,
manufacture business, manufacture
suppliers
within The United States, how is that gonna
affect us?
We it's it's yet to really be seen.
So,
few changes coming in the twelve months, but
these are among
the things that I'm looking forward to to
see.
Hopefully, everything to congruently
work
so we remain in business.
And, also, we remained
an option the best option for this low
accuracy procedures
and,
for the care of our communities.
Absolutely. Well, Emma, thank you so much for
joining us on the podcast today. This has
been such an informative and enlightening conversation, and
I look forward to connecting with you again
soon.
Thank you so much, Nora. It's good to
seeing you again.
Absolutely. And, you know, definitely looking forward to
seeing you at our,
ASC meeting in October. It's just such a
unique and and fun time to see people
in person and be connecting about the big
challenges as well as continuing these conversations,
that we've been having today. So thank you
so much for being here, and I I
look forward to seeing you in person there
too.
Looking forward as well. Thank you, Laura.