1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,960
Hello. This is Francesca Matthews with the Becker's

2
00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:04,259
ASC review podcast.

3
00:00:04,799 --> 00:00:07,059
I'm thrilled to be joined today by Amanda

4
00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:08,740
Ryan, DO MBA,

5
00:00:09,439 --> 00:00:12,419
chief executive officer and physician owner at Advance

6
00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,419
ASC of Carlsbad, New Mexico.

7
00:00:14,984 --> 00:00:16,265
Amanda, thank you so much for being here

8
00:00:16,265 --> 00:00:16,765
today.

9
00:00:17,545 --> 00:00:19,725
Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm excited.

10
00:00:20,184 --> 00:00:22,425
Yeah. Of course. Me too. And to start

11
00:00:22,425 --> 00:00:24,505
us off, could you please just introduce yourself

12
00:00:24,505 --> 00:00:25,945
and tell us a little bit more about

13
00:00:25,945 --> 00:00:26,605
your background?

14
00:00:27,359 --> 00:00:29,760
Yes. So, again, my name is Amanda Ryan.

15
00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:31,140
I'm an interventional cardiologist.

16
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,020
Finished my training back in

17
00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:36,260
02/2010.

18
00:00:37,359 --> 00:00:39,679
Graduated from medical school in 02/2003.

19
00:00:39,679 --> 00:00:40,179
So

20
00:00:40,835 --> 00:00:43,494
then practiced in Florida for about five years,

21
00:00:43,554 --> 00:00:45,795
and then I've been here for ten years

22
00:00:45,795 --> 00:00:47,335
in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

23
00:00:48,274 --> 00:00:51,074
I worked for a large hospital system for

24
00:00:51,074 --> 00:00:52,914
six years and then decided to venture out

25
00:00:52,914 --> 00:00:55,015
on my own into the ASC space

26
00:00:56,090 --> 00:00:58,890
and launched an independent practice four years ago,

27
00:00:58,890 --> 00:00:59,950
and an ASC,

28
00:01:01,530 --> 00:01:03,629
eighteen months ago officially opened.

29
00:01:05,209 --> 00:01:07,290
Hey. Excellent. Well, yeah, that's not not too

30
00:01:07,290 --> 00:01:09,049
long ago. So I'm excited to get your

31
00:01:09,049 --> 00:01:09,795
perspective as,

32
00:01:10,435 --> 00:01:12,034
you know, somebody who's kind of in the

33
00:01:12,034 --> 00:01:14,694
the early stages ish of your journey.

34
00:01:15,875 --> 00:01:17,954
That being said, what are the top three

35
00:01:17,954 --> 00:01:20,034
trends you're following today in health care and

36
00:01:20,034 --> 00:01:20,534
ASCs?

37
00:01:21,715 --> 00:01:23,814
Yeah. So I definitely think reimbursements.

38
00:01:24,370 --> 00:01:25,349
And in the cardiovascular

39
00:01:25,729 --> 00:01:28,290
world, there has been some good 2026

40
00:01:28,290 --> 00:01:29,269
is looking encouraging

41
00:01:29,969 --> 00:01:30,629
for bringing

42
00:01:30,930 --> 00:01:34,469
AFib ablations and other kinds of EP procedures,

43
00:01:35,010 --> 00:01:37,685
as well as a little bit increased reimbursement

44
00:01:37,744 --> 00:01:39,685
in some of the interventional procedures.

45
00:01:40,224 --> 00:01:42,384
So that's good staffing. I think that's just

46
00:01:42,384 --> 00:01:44,784
a common theme that we're all dealing with

47
00:01:44,784 --> 00:01:47,765
and how to be creative with staffing models.

48
00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:50,740
And then in a rural area, just

49
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,079
a lot of lack of access to care

50
00:01:54,079 --> 00:01:55,859
for patients, lack of

51
00:01:56,159 --> 00:01:58,960
access to quality staff. So really trying to

52
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,600
be creative again at how we fill those

53
00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:02,100
gaps.

54
00:02:04,604 --> 00:02:07,185
Mhmm. Absolutely. Yeah. That definitely echoes

55
00:02:07,564 --> 00:02:09,805
what I'm hearing from other ASU leaders, especially

56
00:02:09,805 --> 00:02:11,724
those in in rural areas. I think, you

57
00:02:11,724 --> 00:02:13,004
know, a lot of those issues tend to

58
00:02:13,004 --> 00:02:14,784
kind of compound on themselves.

59
00:02:15,724 --> 00:02:17,909
Definitely. How do we leverage technology? You know,

60
00:02:17,990 --> 00:02:19,590
AI. We we talk a lot about AI

61
00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:22,069
and health care, but what exactly does that

62
00:02:22,069 --> 00:02:24,710
mean for the rural practice in ASC, and

63
00:02:24,710 --> 00:02:26,250
how are we going to really

64
00:02:26,710 --> 00:02:28,730
utilize it to decrease

65
00:02:29,510 --> 00:02:33,370
wait times, improve outcomes, track quality markers,

66
00:02:34,534 --> 00:02:36,775
decrease the need for some staff. I mean,

67
00:02:36,775 --> 00:02:38,775
again, I don't think, you know, some people

68
00:02:38,775 --> 00:02:40,074
have a fear of AI

69
00:02:40,694 --> 00:02:42,775
replacing people. We'd like to make the people

70
00:02:42,775 --> 00:02:44,555
we have more efficient, obviously.

71
00:02:45,495 --> 00:02:47,414
Mhmm. Mhmm. And I think it also seems

72
00:02:47,414 --> 00:02:49,039
like there's, you know, there's so much talk

73
00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:51,120
about AI. And it seems like especially for

74
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,780
rural centers, there's some degree of meeting folks

75
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:55,439
where they're at, and we can't just say,

76
00:02:55,439 --> 00:02:57,759
you know, blanket statements about this will or

77
00:02:57,759 --> 00:03:00,000
won't help because different centers in different parts

78
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:01,759
of the country are just Right. In different

79
00:03:01,759 --> 00:03:02,259
places.

80
00:03:02,995 --> 00:03:04,514
We have a lot of calls that are

81
00:03:04,514 --> 00:03:06,355
just confirming appointments. And so we said it

82
00:03:06,355 --> 00:03:07,955
would be great if we had AI that

83
00:03:07,955 --> 00:03:10,375
could just just help us with that piece.

84
00:03:10,915 --> 00:03:12,754
And we looked, but it was, like, $4

85
00:03:12,754 --> 00:03:15,094
a call, honestly, and that's not too realistic.

86
00:03:16,259 --> 00:03:18,979
Right. Right. Yeah. Absolutely. I was like, oh,

87
00:03:18,979 --> 00:03:21,400
that sounds like great. But $4 a call,

88
00:03:21,699 --> 00:03:24,259
we're probably getting 400 calls a day. So,

89
00:03:24,259 --> 00:03:26,180
clearly, that's probably gonna be out of our

90
00:03:26,180 --> 00:03:27,794
market of what we can afford to pay.

91
00:03:28,354 --> 00:03:30,034
Right. Right. It's making a little bit more

92
00:03:30,034 --> 00:03:31,794
than someone at the front desk at that

93
00:03:31,794 --> 00:03:33,655
point, it sounds like. Yeah.

94
00:03:34,594 --> 00:03:36,594
So with that being said as well, what

95
00:03:36,594 --> 00:03:38,514
are what else are you most excited about

96
00:03:38,514 --> 00:03:39,495
in this space?

97
00:03:40,460 --> 00:03:42,159
I think growth. I mean, the cardiovascular

98
00:03:42,540 --> 00:03:45,200
space for ASCs is really wide open.

99
00:03:46,139 --> 00:03:48,159
I think the chance for physician autonomy

100
00:03:48,939 --> 00:03:50,939
and that doesn't really mean like, to me,

101
00:03:50,939 --> 00:03:51,599
it doesn't

102
00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:52,400
mean

103
00:03:53,944 --> 00:03:54,764
staunch independence.

104
00:03:55,064 --> 00:03:56,905
I answer to no one because I think

105
00:03:56,905 --> 00:03:57,885
that's a naive

106
00:03:58,344 --> 00:04:00,905
thought. We all are answering to one another

107
00:04:00,905 --> 00:04:03,485
and having accountability in our health care system.

108
00:04:04,264 --> 00:04:05,645
But I think finding

109
00:04:06,219 --> 00:04:08,219
people to partner with that maybe are more

110
00:04:08,219 --> 00:04:10,539
in line with our vision and mission is

111
00:04:10,539 --> 00:04:12,080
really what we're looking for.

112
00:04:12,379 --> 00:04:14,400
As we look to expand our services,

113
00:04:14,939 --> 00:04:17,419
we look to partner with other physicians who

114
00:04:17,419 --> 00:04:20,220
are like minded in their approach, which rural

115
00:04:20,220 --> 00:04:21,680
health care has a unique,

116
00:04:22,435 --> 00:04:24,055
you know, a a unique approach.

117
00:04:25,555 --> 00:04:26,535
Mhmm. Absolutely.

118
00:04:27,235 --> 00:04:28,834
That's so interesting just what you said about

119
00:04:28,834 --> 00:04:31,095
physician autonomy. It's something I'm hearing so much

120
00:04:31,235 --> 00:04:32,915
lately because I think, you know, people are

121
00:04:32,915 --> 00:04:34,689
really a lot of folks, it seems, are

122
00:04:34,689 --> 00:04:36,310
seeking that increased autonomy,

123
00:04:36,689 --> 00:04:38,689
leaving larger health systems kind of,

124
00:04:39,250 --> 00:04:41,329
and finding their own definition of what that's

125
00:04:41,329 --> 00:04:42,769
gonna mean to them. So it's interesting to

126
00:04:42,769 --> 00:04:44,870
hear your perspective on that.

127
00:04:45,490 --> 00:04:45,990
Definitely.

128
00:04:46,769 --> 00:04:49,154
And like I said, I seek to partner

129
00:04:49,154 --> 00:04:50,455
with other like minded

130
00:04:51,314 --> 00:04:52,455
advanced business

131
00:04:53,074 --> 00:04:54,455
and physician partners,

132
00:04:54,995 --> 00:04:57,095
but it's just I have a very

133
00:04:58,035 --> 00:04:59,955
narrow set of what I think is an

134
00:04:59,955 --> 00:05:02,514
appropriate mission and vision, and I need people

135
00:05:02,514 --> 00:05:04,330
to fall within that in order to really

136
00:05:04,330 --> 00:05:05,790
help us achieve our goals.

137
00:05:06,650 --> 00:05:09,290
Mhmm. Absolutely. And, I mean, you you just

138
00:05:09,290 --> 00:05:11,129
touched on the growth aspect a lot there,

139
00:05:11,129 --> 00:05:12,970
but how else are you thinking about growth

140
00:05:12,970 --> 00:05:14,350
over the next twelve months?

141
00:05:15,449 --> 00:05:17,770
So, again, adding service lines, we're really looking

142
00:05:17,770 --> 00:05:18,910
at adding electrophysiology

143
00:05:19,529 --> 00:05:21,044
as atrial fibrillation

144
00:05:21,745 --> 00:05:24,084
is epidemic and underserved.

145
00:05:24,944 --> 00:05:27,685
People often waiting six to nine months traveling

146
00:05:27,904 --> 00:05:30,305
for three, four hundred miles in our region

147
00:05:30,305 --> 00:05:31,204
to see an electrophysiologist.

148
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:33,920
So we're really trying to come up with

149
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:35,379
a way to bring electrophysiology

150
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,639
services to our area, and that's really our

151
00:05:38,639 --> 00:05:40,740
biggest, growth focus right now.

152
00:05:41,439 --> 00:05:41,939
Absolutely.

153
00:05:42,959 --> 00:05:44,480
Well, that is all I have for you

154
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,720
today, Amanda. Thank you so much for joining

155
00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:48,444
us. It has been a pleasure speaking with

156
00:05:48,444 --> 00:05:49,964
you, and I look forward to connecting with

157
00:05:49,964 --> 00:05:52,204
you again in the future. Yes. We'll see

158
00:05:52,204 --> 00:05:53,745
you at the next Becker's conference.

159
00:05:54,524 --> 00:05:57,104
See you then. Okay. Great. Thank you. Yep.

160
00:05:57,245 --> 00:05:58,464
Thank you. Bye.