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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast, and we are recording live at the
twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management
Conference.
I'm currently joined by Bruce Feldman, who is
an administrator at Eastern Orange County Ambulatory Surgery
Center. So, Bruce, thanks for being here. Let's
start out by, having you share a little
bit more about yourself, your role, and your
organization.
Sure. So I'm a, seasoned ASC administrator.
I've been in the ASC world now for
about twenty plus years. I've held a number
of leadership positions running both multi specialty and
single specialty ASCs,
some of which have been de novo, some
of which have been part of healthcare systems
as joint ventures,
others have been run by ASC management companies.
Currently I do a lot of ASC business
consulting,
specifically in the area of business development.
Recently got back from a health care system
in Michigan
that's looking to expand their footprint in the
ASC world,
and
that's what I've been doing.
Wonderful. Well, thank you for being here.
And let's start our conversation with what trends
or shifts you're currently seeing right now in
the industry that you think are most important
for leaders to pay attention to. Well, I
think we're gonna continue to see more and
more, complex higher acuity level cases
shifting from the hospital
to the ASC arena.
I think,
the hot ticket right now is going to
be in the area of cardiovascular
services.
We're starting to,
see a lot of development
of single specialty
cardiac ASCs.
And I think we're gonna continue to also
see, a lot of health care systems
getting into the ASC,
arena,
either through the acquisition
of existing ASCs
or through the development of their own ASCs
as this, shift to outpatient care continues.
Absolutely.
And let's touch on staffing and workforce challenges
as well because those continue to be a
concern across health care.
So how is your organization navigating those pressures
and what strategies have you seen work well?
Well, we recently,
implemented an internal recruitment strategy
whereby
we basically incentivize
staff members
who refer a candidate for a vacant position.
So if one of our staff refers, let's
say, a surgical technologist,
they get a certain dollar amount. And after
that individual has passed their probationary period,
the employee who did the referral gets a
certain dollar amount.
And that has proven to be a very
good effective strategy because
most of the
individuals who are being referred obviously have worked
with our employees.
And therefore, that team building
doesn't need to be done because they already
know a lot of
the individuals at the center. So that that's
one, strategy.
And then,
I'm also very focused in on retention.
I think if you retain your employees, then
you don't have a recruitment promise,
problems. So,
I'm a very firm believer in developing a
collaborative,
working environment.
A 100%.
And as outpatient care continues to grow, how
do you see the role of ASCs evolving
within the broader healthcare ecosystem?
Well, I think that's gonna continue to grow
as well. As had mentioned earlier,
I think you're gonna start seeing more and
more,
large health large healthcare systems,
either requiring or developing their own,
ASCs in the East,
Coast. We're seeing a lot of that going
on right now,
a lot of joint ventures
with,
health care,
enterprises building ASCs.
And I think that can trend that trend
will only continue. I think it's a matter
of, do you want a smaller piece of
the pie or no pie at all?
And, I think there's gonna continue to be
a shift of higher acuity level cases out
of the hospital
into the ASC environment. We all know that
ASCs are more cost effective,
higher patient satisfaction, higher physician
satisfaction, and more efficient.
And as we round out our conversation,
many organizations are exploring new technologies, partnerships, or
care models to improve efficiency and outcomes.
Are there any innovations or initiatives that you
found particularly promising?
I think just the collaborative,
involvement now with, vendors.
A lot of vendors are now partnering with
ASCs,
to help them
devise various clinical service lines.
As an example,
in orthopedics,
you're finding a lot of involvement with Stryker
and with Deploy,
getting involved with things like implants
and helping, ASCs to develop, joint replacement programs.
Wonderful. Well, Bruce, thank you for joining me
today. Is there anything else you'd like to
share that we haven't touched on?
No. I think that it's an exciting time
for ASCs.
I think we're gonna continue to see, a
tremendous growth,
in the ASC arena as more and more
cases shift from the inpatient setting
to the outpatient setting.
And I think we just have to be
very, fluid,
to keep up with those, rapid changes.
Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining
me today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Again,
we are recording live at the twenty second
annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference.
Thank you.