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forward slash beckerspodcast.

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Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast

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recorded live at the twenty second annual spine,

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orthopedic, and pain management driven ASC and future

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of spine conference.

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I'm joined today by doctor Al Abdesayid, medical

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director at UW Health Pain Services.

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Doctor Al, thank you so much for joining

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us today. Well, thank you for having me.

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Can you start us off by sharing a

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little about yourself, your role in your organization?

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So my name is,

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Allah Abdel Said. I go by doctor Al,

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and I'm the medical director of, pain services

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at the University of Wisconsin, which include inpatient

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pain,

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outpatient pain. We have a very large academic,

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chronic pain program,

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training programs. So, I get the

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privilege of overseeing,

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the the pain practices, all across CW health

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system.

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So what trends or shifts are you currently

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seeing right now in the industry that you

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are think

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are most important for industry leaders to be

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paying attention to?

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I don't know where to start with this

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one. There is a lot to pay attention

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to, but most importantly,

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I think the, reimbursement challenges kinda that's comes

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to my mind, like, number one, because,

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without the appropriate,

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reimbursement, it's hard to maintain practice, hard to

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care of patients. Mhmm.

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You know, I come second to my mind

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is insurance denials

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Mhmm. Which again,

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prevent patients from getting some care they need

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to get. So these are probably, two very

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important topics. Mhmm. Mhmm.

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And staffing and workforce challenges continue to be

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a concern across health care. How is your

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organization navigating these pressures, and, what strategies are

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you currently seeing work well? So very good

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point. Definitely, there is shortage of, workforce at

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all levels, not only,

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like physician, but we are,

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finding shortage in nurses or support staff, medical

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assistants.

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And the strategy is, very challenging because there

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is national shortage, and, basically, systems try to

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maintain their own task force. But I think

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that

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that creates shortage somewhere else. But I guess

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at the organizational level, we need to have

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good, retention policies,

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good recruitment policies,

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good work balance,

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lifestyle,

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good,

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financial

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incentive for work and create of, friendly,

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safe work environment to maintain people and have

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them grow in their careers without, the need

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to leave.

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So as outpatient care continues to grow, how

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do you see the role of,

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pain services

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really kind of evolving within the broader health

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care ecosystem?

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Outpatient is a main focus now of health

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care systems for many reasons. Number one is,

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there are advancement in technology and procedures. We

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don't need to keep patients in hospitals,

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which is good again for many reasons. The,

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it's lower cost,

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better care because the patient now, less likely

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to get admitted to the hospital with with

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the risk of, DVTs and hospital acquired infections,

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and they're being away from their family, beloved

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one being in their bed at home. So

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definitely the expansion on the ambulatory side is

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a key. It's growing fast. We'll continue to

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grow fast as we advance as a technology,

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and it's something we need to allocate more

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resources for. Mhmm.

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And so many organizations are exploring new technologies,

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partnerships, or care models to improve efficiency and

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outcomes.

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Are there any innovations or initiatives that you

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found to be particularly promising?

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There there are many. A lot of it

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is about preoperative patient care that allow patients

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to be prepared for the surgery, like, get

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their surgery quickly, go discharged home, by use

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of a new long acting local anesthetics,

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good like, pain management,

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that starts even planning, before surgery,

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advancement of minimally invasive procedures and,

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which come with robotic surgeries and many other

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kinds of, minimally invasive surgeries that there are

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no big incisions,

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work done nicely and clean. And this way,

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the patient have less pain,

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less incisions to care for, and potentially, like,

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quick discharge and back to activity and productivity.

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So in your view, how does strengthening financial

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communication help foster long term trust and loyalty

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between patients and providers?

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That's a very, very good question. Because when

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we talk about financial strength, it's not only

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about

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good reimbursement

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or

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expensive service or patients paying. Because it's multifaceted,

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concept

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in that if I can get the patient

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to do the procedure and go home at

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the same day, they'll be more productive in

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the community. They'll be back to work within

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one or two days.

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And and this is financially important for the

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patient, for the community, for for the whole

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country,

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rather than,

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maybe go the other way, do it the

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traditional way. Maybe,

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yeah, maybe insurance will pay less, but then

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you have to admit the patient, lose work,

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maybe develop complications, may spend more money on

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this. So we have to look at it

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at all aspects, not at only the onetime

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reimbursement,

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or payment that go through or between the

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patient and the facility, but rather on the

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whole spectrum of care and how much,

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this maybe onetime service would be a lot

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more cost effective.

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Right. Right.

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Well, doctor Al, I wanna thank you so

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much for joining us on the show today.

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But before I let you go, is there

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anything you'd like to leave with the audience

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or any final thoughts?

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I,

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I would like to share with people that,

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it's my first time at the Bakers conference,

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and I'll be coming every year. Great place

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Great,

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place to connect and learn from others. I

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encourage everybody to visit next year. Mhmm. And

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I encourage everyone to, not only to visit

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for the sake of learning, but also sharing

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experiences,

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you know, hanging out together to learn from

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each other and hopefully face all the challenges

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in the health care system that we encounter

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now, we continue to encounter in the future.

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Awesome. Well, thank you again for joining us,

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doctor Al, and I hope you have a

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lovely rest of your day. Thanks so much.

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My pleasure.