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To learn 13 00:00:30,649 --> 00:00:32,929 more, visit carecredit.com 14 00:00:32,929 --> 00:00:34,710 forward slash beckers podcast. 15 00:00:35,570 --> 00:00:37,829 Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. 16 00:00:37,890 --> 00:00:39,649 My name is Chanel Banger, and I'm recording 17 00:00:39,649 --> 00:00:41,809 live at the thirty first annual business and 18 00:00:41,809 --> 00:00:44,229 operations of ASC conference in Chicago 19 00:00:44,704 --> 00:00:47,265 and currently sitting down with Melissa Rice, an 20 00:00:47,265 --> 00:00:50,864 administrator at Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center, a member 21 00:00:50,864 --> 00:00:53,024 of Trinity Health. Melissa, thank you so much 22 00:00:53,024 --> 00:00:54,625 for joining me today. Thank you so much 23 00:00:54,625 --> 00:00:57,060 for having me. Perfect. Well, to kick us 24 00:00:57,060 --> 00:00:58,739 off, can you share a bit about yourself 25 00:00:58,739 --> 00:01:00,579 and your work in the ASC space? Yes. 26 00:01:00,899 --> 00:01:02,340 As you just said, I am a current 27 00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:05,060 administrator at Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center, which is 28 00:01:05,060 --> 00:01:06,739 a member of Trinity Health. I have been 29 00:01:06,739 --> 00:01:09,135 in the ASC space for fifteen plus years. 30 00:01:09,694 --> 00:01:12,415 Always being an administrator or, also helping out 31 00:01:12,415 --> 00:01:13,234 all of leadership. 32 00:01:14,094 --> 00:01:15,375 And I'm just, you know, very happy to 33 00:01:15,375 --> 00:01:17,135 be here. Perfect. Thank you so much for 34 00:01:17,135 --> 00:01:19,615 that introduction. And now to get into it 35 00:01:19,615 --> 00:01:21,615 a bit, the ASC market in The US 36 00:01:21,615 --> 00:01:24,594 is projected to reach almost $61,000,000,000 37 00:01:25,109 --> 00:01:27,670 by 2030 and continues to experience strong year 38 00:01:27,670 --> 00:01:28,569 over year growth. 39 00:01:28,870 --> 00:01:30,630 I'd like to hear from your perspective, what 40 00:01:30,630 --> 00:01:31,130 are, 41 00:01:31,590 --> 00:01:33,990 the most significant trends and market forces driving 42 00:01:33,990 --> 00:01:36,870 this expansion and how should ASC leaders be 43 00:01:36,870 --> 00:01:39,975 preparing today? Yeah. So as, most people are 44 00:01:39,975 --> 00:01:42,534 aware, you know, Medicare dropped 270 45 00:01:42,534 --> 00:01:44,775 of the inpatient CPT codes, you know, to 46 00:01:44,775 --> 00:01:46,295 move to outpatient. So I think that's one 47 00:01:46,295 --> 00:01:48,454 of the biggest drivers that, is, you know, 48 00:01:48,454 --> 00:01:49,594 proving this growth. 49 00:01:49,909 --> 00:01:50,810 I think also, 50 00:01:51,270 --> 00:01:54,150 a lot of the big payers, specifically the 51 00:01:54,150 --> 00:01:57,270 blues, are looking at site site of care 52 00:01:57,270 --> 00:01:59,189 specifics. So, therefore, they're saying that, you know, 53 00:01:59,189 --> 00:02:01,109 we're not gonna pay for these CPT codes 54 00:02:01,109 --> 00:02:03,689 in a in main, hospital or a HOPD 55 00:02:03,750 --> 00:02:05,280 perspective, and they wanna do it in ASC. 56 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:06,994 So So I think we're gonna continue to 57 00:02:06,994 --> 00:02:09,235 see that happening as, you know, more of 58 00:02:09,235 --> 00:02:11,094 these cases become ASC specific. 59 00:02:11,555 --> 00:02:13,715 I think what, ASC leadership should be preparing 60 00:02:13,715 --> 00:02:15,955 for today is watch those watch what, you 61 00:02:15,955 --> 00:02:17,555 know, watch what Becker's puts out. Watch what 62 00:02:17,555 --> 00:02:18,979 ASCO puts out and, you know, start to 63 00:02:18,979 --> 00:02:20,259 get ahead of the game. Start looking at 64 00:02:20,259 --> 00:02:22,519 your contracts to see if these specific codes 65 00:02:22,579 --> 00:02:24,500 are something, one, that are covered. Two, can 66 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:25,939 you get it covered? And three, if there's 67 00:02:25,939 --> 00:02:27,299 implants or anything like that that you can 68 00:02:27,299 --> 00:02:28,680 start negotiating today, 69 00:02:28,979 --> 00:02:30,739 start reaching out to your providers. Whether they're 70 00:02:30,819 --> 00:02:32,340 you work for an employed system like I 71 00:02:32,340 --> 00:02:34,084 do or you do have the capability to 72 00:02:34,084 --> 00:02:36,164 bring in independent providers. Start having that conversation 73 00:02:36,164 --> 00:02:37,924 with them now. Talk about the trends that 74 00:02:37,924 --> 00:02:39,364 are happening. Because once it starts in one 75 00:02:39,364 --> 00:02:40,884 state, we all know it's gonna start coming 76 00:02:40,884 --> 00:02:41,704 to our state. 77 00:02:42,004 --> 00:02:44,025 Absolutely. And now kind of getting into technology 78 00:02:44,084 --> 00:02:46,405 a bit. From AI and robotic surgeries to 79 00:02:46,405 --> 00:02:47,625 advanced EHR, 80 00:02:48,084 --> 00:02:48,584 systems, 81 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,360 technology remains both a make or break factor 82 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,439 and a critical driver of ASC operations at 83 00:02:53,439 --> 00:02:55,939 scale. How do you see deeper tech integration 84 00:02:56,159 --> 00:02:57,300 shaping the way ASCs 85 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,240 deliver care and manage their businesses over the 86 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:01,139 next few years? 87 00:03:01,534 --> 00:03:03,134 I think AI is, you know, something that 88 00:03:03,134 --> 00:03:04,895 we're still looking at, you know, talking about. 89 00:03:04,895 --> 00:03:06,175 I know there's been some great things that 90 00:03:06,175 --> 00:03:08,014 Becker's has brought to this conference regarding that. 91 00:03:08,014 --> 00:03:09,694 So I'm excited to hear more from my 92 00:03:09,694 --> 00:03:10,194 colleagues. 93 00:03:10,895 --> 00:03:12,655 Robotic surgeries is a hot topic. 94 00:03:12,974 --> 00:03:14,594 One, a lot of the robotics, 95 00:03:15,349 --> 00:03:17,449 do come with a heavy dollar amount 96 00:03:17,909 --> 00:03:19,669 or some locked and contracted rates. So I 97 00:03:19,669 --> 00:03:21,189 think a lot of people are a little 98 00:03:21,189 --> 00:03:23,849 nervous to bring that into their center, especially 99 00:03:23,909 --> 00:03:26,150 if it's not connected to a, a hospital 100 00:03:26,150 --> 00:03:27,769 campus where you can share it. 101 00:03:28,465 --> 00:03:30,465 Advance of EHR systems. I think all the 102 00:03:30,465 --> 00:03:32,465 players out there are really listening to the 103 00:03:32,465 --> 00:03:35,104 leaders of the ASC stuff and kinda looking 104 00:03:35,104 --> 00:03:37,104 at how can we make this easier for 105 00:03:37,104 --> 00:03:38,405 our clinicians to 106 00:03:38,705 --> 00:03:40,784 stop having to do the mundane process of 107 00:03:40,784 --> 00:03:43,025 charting, whether it be paper or an EHR 108 00:03:43,025 --> 00:03:45,299 system, and really making sure that we can 109 00:03:45,299 --> 00:03:47,219 turn our turn our care and looking like 110 00:03:47,219 --> 00:03:49,139 direct patient care. So I think there's a 111 00:03:49,139 --> 00:03:51,780 lot of headwind coming, you know, to chart 112 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:54,419 by, you know, specialties and, you know, making 113 00:03:54,419 --> 00:03:55,539 sure that we can, you know, have all 114 00:03:55,539 --> 00:03:57,405 the information that we need. Got it. Got 115 00:03:57,405 --> 00:03:59,324 it. And kind of, switching gears a bit 116 00:03:59,324 --> 00:04:02,125 here. With 60% of health systems considering ASC 117 00:04:02,125 --> 00:04:04,844 joint ventures and many ASCs already partnering with 118 00:04:04,844 --> 00:04:06,305 systems in their communities, 119 00:04:06,764 --> 00:04:08,625 what opportunities do you see for collaboration, 120 00:04:09,085 --> 00:04:11,719 whether with providers or vendors, to strengthen patient 121 00:04:11,719 --> 00:04:13,259 care and operational efficiency? 122 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:15,560 You know, I work for a health care 123 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,319 system. So, you know, I'm already a part 124 00:04:17,319 --> 00:04:18,920 of, you know, that type of situation, but 125 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,480 we do look to have independent providers come 126 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,079 to our center and be a part of 127 00:04:23,079 --> 00:04:25,660 the amazing network that we're in. I think, 128 00:04:25,935 --> 00:04:28,735 you know, what we can do is if 129 00:04:28,735 --> 00:04:31,295 we're partnering with, systems or health care for 130 00:04:31,295 --> 00:04:33,375 other providers is how do we broaden the 131 00:04:33,375 --> 00:04:35,214 access to our community? How do we how 132 00:04:35,214 --> 00:04:36,895 do we have outreach in all the different 133 00:04:36,895 --> 00:04:39,295 locations, whether it be city or urban or 134 00:04:39,295 --> 00:04:41,235 rural? You know, how are we benefiting 135 00:04:41,670 --> 00:04:43,350 the patient, you know, you know, at the 136 00:04:43,350 --> 00:04:43,850 beginning? 137 00:04:44,550 --> 00:04:45,050 Absolutely. 138 00:04:45,430 --> 00:04:47,110 Well, Melissa, I wanna thank you for your 139 00:04:47,110 --> 00:04:48,629 time today. But before I let you go, 140 00:04:48,790 --> 00:04:50,310 is there anything we didn't touch on or 141 00:04:50,310 --> 00:04:52,230 any final thoughts that you'd like to share? 142 00:04:52,230 --> 00:04:53,750 If you're listening to this, make sure that 143 00:04:53,750 --> 00:04:55,110 you do sign up for all the Becker's 144 00:04:55,110 --> 00:04:57,110 newsletters because they give you all of the 145 00:04:57,110 --> 00:04:59,235 information that you need. And also, 146 00:04:59,615 --> 00:05:01,294 deep in the you know, try to touch 147 00:05:01,294 --> 00:05:02,974 base with your state associations. I think they 148 00:05:02,974 --> 00:05:05,134 definitely partner well, for, you know, ASCs and 149 00:05:05,134 --> 00:05:06,814 what's to come. Love the shout out. Well, 150 00:05:06,814 --> 00:05:08,254 Melissa, I wanna thank you once again for 151 00:05:08,254 --> 00:05:09,615 your time today and for sharing your insights 152 00:05:09,615 --> 00:05:11,214 on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Thank you so 153 00:05:11,214 --> 00:05:12,274 much for having me.