At athenahealth,
we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier, a
healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier patients.
But the complexities of modern health care tech
make it hard for you and your care
teams to focus on what matters
most? That's where athenahealth can help. Our AI
native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens,
streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
when clinicians need it most. That means fewer
clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom
lines.
Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
See how simpler is healthier@athenahealth.com.
Hello. This is Francesca Matthews with the Becker's
ASC review podcast.
I'm thrilled to be joined today by doctor
Earl Kilbride, an orthopedic surgeon at Austin Orthopedic
Institute. Earl, thank you so much for being
here today. You're welcome. Thank you.
Yeah. Just to start us off, could you
please introduce yourself and tell us a little
bit about your background?
Sure. My name is Earl Kilbride. I'm an
orthopedic surgeon here in Austin, Texas.
Did my training in Dallas way back when.
I did a fellowship out in Los Angeles
with, Steve Snyder at SCOE in shoulder arthroscopy
and reconstruction.
I've been here in Austin now as a
practice in orthopedics
for about twenty three years.
K. Excellent. And
what are the top three trends that you're
following in health care and ASCs today?
Yeah. So I think, the biggest thing that
I'm following is consolidation.
I'm in a six man,
small,
independently owned private practice group. And so the
bigger one of the biggest threats to our
survival
is consolidation, whether that be with private equity
or under the employed model.
So that's certainly a trend we're following. Obviously,
reimbursement is another trend that we're following.
Whenever Medicare goes down, a lot of the
commercial contracts are tied to some sort of
Medicare factor.
And so, certainly, that threatens the livelihood
long term of any physician, much less a
small private practice group.
And then lastly,
it's exciting, but,
is
AI. How do we use AI in medicine?
Is there a way that can make us
more efficient and work smarter, not harder?
We have to make sure that we vet
a lot of the information that's coming through
in the AI,
platforms,
and how do you incorporate that to, say,
your EMR? How do you incorporate that into,
say, patient education and things of that sort?
Mhmm. Absolutely. And that that definitely just echoes,
the conversations that I've been having over here
at Becker's just a lot this year, especially
consolidation reimbursement AI.
Major major themes there.
You mentioned you were excited about AI, but
what else are you most excited about right
now?
One of the biggest things that
excites us, especially as a small independent group,
is moving everything to the ASC. Right?
Some of the payers have got on board
with it and the professional fees for a
single physician are higher in the ASC than
they would be in the hospital because they
see the long term savings.
Just a couple of years ago, many procedures
such as total shoulder replacements
got taken off this inpatient only list. And
there's even some,
chatter,
about
amongst the politicians in Washington DC to get
rid of,
the inpatient only list, which would then push
more patients to the AFC
ASC.
I think,
the literature shows that it can be done
safely, and the literature shows that it's definitely
more efficient.
There's less,
hours in terms of patient rounding, having to
discharge patients, pay paperwork, all those things
associated with an ASC.
And the bottom line is patients are doing
at least as good.
And quite honestly, when they're paying 20% of
an overall bill, it's probably cheaper for them
in their pockets.
Mhmm. Absolutely. Definitely another trend that we've been
following closely at Becker's.
How are you thinking about growth over the
next twelve months?
As a physician, I always think if you're
available,
you provide good care, you provide good honest
treatments,
you communicate with the patients that you're gonna
grow. And so I personally believe in organic
growth, getting out there, shaking hands of private
practice guys, giving talks at local community events,
really encouraging patients to do patient reviews, etcetera.
But a lot of times, especially with big
business coming in, whether it's private equity or
hospital employed models, it gets harder and harder
to do that. And so I think some
of the growth that we'll we'll see will
be directed growth. For instance,
maybe advertising that we do minimally invasive surgery
in an ASC, for instance, like we just
spoke about. The other thing is figuring out
some different procedures that, is just not common.
One of the things I personally do, and
I was the first orthopedist in Texas to
do it, is I do peripheral nerve stimulation.
I've really incorporate incorporated this into my practice.
I give many talks throughout the year to
different orthopedic groups that are trying to incorporate
this. And so I think we just have
to be really open,
to different avenues of growth.
Mhmm. Absolutely. That that kind of marketing component
I know is something that's challenging for physicians,
but also I think having those strong, community
connections is something that kind of seem to
put people on the the other end of
the bell curve. You know? That kind of
that human element that can't really be replaced.
So, yeah, again, just kind of lots of
the themes that we talk about here at
Becker's. Is there anything else that you wanted
to touch on today?
I think, I think we've covered it all,
and I I appreciate you guys having me.
Yeah. Of course. And we'll be in touch
soon.
That's all I have for you today, Earl.
But thank you so much for joining us.
It's been a pleasure speaking with you, and
I look forward to connecting with you again
in the future. Perfect. Thank you, guys. Uh-huh.
Yep. Thank you.
At athena Health, we know your ambulatory practice
wants healthier,
a healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier
patients.
But the complexities of modern healthcare tech make
it hard for you and your care teams
to focus on what matters most.
That's where athenahealth can help.
Our AI native all in one solutions reduce
administrative burdens,
streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
when clinicians need it most. That means fewer
clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom
lines.
Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth.com.