Today is the third and final part of our three-part series on how you can optimize the physician experience. Dr. Justo covered the importance of encouraging your doctors to learn new procedures, Lindsay Schulte covered how to ensure you're fully aligned with your doctor's preferences, and Janet Carlson joined us on this episode to discuss improving communication and collaboration. Janet is the Executive Director of ASCs at Commonwealth Pain and Spine, and they have roughly 22 doctors, so she shared tips for removing some common barriers, technology's role, and how they do things at Commonwealth.

After my conversation with Janet, we'll wrap up the episode with the third installment of our AI segment. We've covered ways you can use generative AI to create staff schedules, write patient education materials, handle the heavy lifting when writing post-op instructions, improve your website, and manage your social media content. Today, we'll take it one step further and look at five ways you can use AI to help you analyze data, spot trends, and present your findings to your board or stakeholders.

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Last week, we kicked off our “Optimizing the Physician Experience” series with Dr. Justo, who covered the importance of encouraging your docs to learn new procedures. Today, for part 2 of the series, we are joined by Lindsay Schulte, the Division Vice President of ASCs at EyeCare Partners. EyeCare Partners has over 300 doctors across their 31 ASCs, so Lindsay knows a thing or two about managing the physician experience. She shares with us today how ASCs can align with physician preferences, including scheduling, equipment, supplies, preference cards, and more.

In our news recap, we’ll cover how data can play a role in securing anesthesia services, the latest tech trends that are transforming outpatient care, unexpectedly high medical bills, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a nurse who adopted her patient’s cat and was able to reunite them ten years later.

Articles Mentioned:

Collect Data to Secure Anesthesia Services

Tech Trends That Are Transforming Outpatient Care

How to Get Relief From Unexpectedly High Medical Bills

Cat-tastic Reunion: Nurse’s 10-Year Promise Reunites Beloved Papa Bear Back to Patients

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Today kicks off a new, three-part series on the podcast about Optimizing the Physician Experience. We spend most of our time talking about the patient experience and patient satisfaction, and rightly so, but keeping your docs happy is incredibly important, too. So, for our first discussion, I am joined by Dr. Emilio Justo. Dr. Justo is currently the Medical Director at the Arizona Eye Institute & Cosmetic Laser Center and a well-known speaker and teacher. As a physician, Dr. Justo shares some great insights into what physicians are looking for. Then, we spent most of our time talking about the benefits of encouraging your doctors to learn new procedures and how you can create an environment that promotes continuous learning and skill development.

After talking with Dr. Justo, we’ll wrap up the episode with the second installment of our brand-new AI segment. Like last week, I’ll walk you through a few safe and free ways to start using AI at your surgery center today, focusing on how you can use AI to improve your website and social media presence.

Check out Dr. Justo’s latest book, The Power of Pause: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4JH7VPL

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Today is the third and final part of our three-episode series on Expanding Your ASC. We’ve covered how to bring on new physicians, add new specialties, and add a new operating room. I had the opportunity to sit down with Greg DeConciliis to talk about the expansion project he’s working on. Greg’s team realized a few years ago that they had outgrown their current 3-OR facility, so they are building an 8-OR facility a few miles down the road, and they are on track to open in January 2025. So we talked about how he knew it was time, financing, finding contractors, challenges and learnings, and everything in between.

After my conversation with Greg, we will end the episode with a new segment. I usually try to rotate between sharing the latest news and sharing helpful data points, but I thought it would be good to add a new segment around Using AI at Your ASC. It can be really tricky to know you can start using AI today, especially if it’s a subject you are a bit wary of or just haven’t had a lot of exposure to. So stay tuned until the end, and I’ll walk you through three safe and free ways to start using AI today.

Previous “Expanding Your ASC” episodes:

• Michael McClain – Expanding Your ASC: Bringing on New Surgeons + Specialties
• Bruce Johnstone – Expanding Your ASC: Adding an OR

ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Today is part two of a three-part podcast series on Expanding Your ASC. As we learned in the last episode, expansion will look different for every surgery center. However, whether adding physicians, introducing a new specialty, opening another OR, or growing your team, having a growth mindset is essential for your surgery center's longevity. So today, we are sitting down with Bruce Johnstone, a Principal at Apex, and he's sharing great advice on how you can successfully add a new OR to your facility.

After my conversation with Bruce, we'll switch to our Data & Insights segment. Last September, HST released a State of the Industry Report with 45 chapters of best practices, 125+ KPIs for ASCs to track, and free benchmarking data for 15 key metrics. We are currently working on a 2024 version, so in honor of being two months out from our publish date, I want to share with you four of the key metrics we published last year and talk through how to improve them.

Dive deeper into the KPIs:

Unused OR Blocks

Average Net Revenue Per Specialty

Patient Deposit Collection Rates

Days to Bill

2023 State of the Industry Report

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

We have officially wrapped up our "Capitalizing on the Cardiology Boom" series and are starting a new series on "Expanding Your ASC."

Today, I am very excited to have on returning guest, Michael McClain, to discuss how you can successfully bring on new surgeons and add new specialties to your existing facility. Michael is currently the Founder and Managing Member at LeftCoast Healthcare Advisors, so he works with ASCs on their strategic development all the time. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to growing and evolving your facility in a seamless and financially beneficial way.

In our news recap, we'll cover the CMS 2025 Proposed Medicare Payment Rule, diversity in the operating room, the Coalition of Health AI, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a nurse who went above and beyond to save a runner's life.

Articles Mentioned:

CMS Releases 2025 Proposed Medicare Payment Rule

Why We Need More Women Surgeons

CHAI releases draft framework for responsible health AI

Nurse Jackie Stange’s Heroic Actions Save Penn State Runner’s Life

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

At the end of every podcast episode, we always ask our guests, “What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?”

We took eleven of the most recent answers and turned them into this week’s recap episode. The advice they share covers everything from sterilization to board communication, staff appreciation, patient satisfaction survey results, block time, benchmarking, and so much more.

We hope everyone enjoys this round-up, and a huge thank you to our featured guests, in order of appearance:

• Monica Daniel
• Benita Tapia
• Kate Perlstrom
• Tina Piotrowski
• Alex Yampolsky
• Alex Taira
• Janet Carlson
• Amy Ishmael
• Kristen Richards
• Kristin Truesdell
• Dr. Joseph Puma

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Today kicks off the third and final part of our “capitalizing on the cardiology boom” series. Dr. Joseph Puma is the founder of Sorin Medical and the founder and president of the New York Ambulatory Cardiovascular Society. New York does not currently allow CV procedures to take place in an ambulatory setting, so Dr. Puma is working with many organizations to change this. I had the chance to ask Dr. Puma about the most common concerns he hears from both surgery center leaders and governing bodies, and we got into the years' worth of positive outcomes he has compiled and where we go from here.

In our news recap, we’ll cover the latest from Change Healthcare, the highest-paid ASC specialty, the top citations from CMS in 2023, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a new finger-prick test for Parkinson’s.

Related Episodes:

• Kristen Richards – Capitalizing on the Cardiology Boom: Key Considerations Before Adding Procedures
• Kristin Truesdell – Capitalizing on the Cardiology Boom: Maximizing Revenue

Articles Mentioned:

• Change Healthcare starts sending data breach notifications after cyberattack
• The highest-paid ASC specialty
• CMS Releases Top Citations from 2023
• AI brought hope in tackling Parkinson’s

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Today is part 2 of our 3-part series about how you can capitalize on the cardiology boom. Last week, we talked with Kristen Richards about key considerations to think through before adding CV procedures to your ASC. Today, we’ll sit down with Kristin Truesdell, the Senior Vice President at Corazon, to cover all things money. We’ll get into what expenses you’ll encounter, how to negotiate with payors, and general strategies ASCs can leverage to maximize reimbursement.

In our news recap, we’ll cover Rapper Fat Joe on Capitol Hill, trends that are exciting ASC owners right now, the power shift in ASC ownership, and, of course, end the news segment with a positive story about a groundbreaking device called Popsy.

Related Episodes:

• Kristen Richards – Capitalizing on the Cardiology Boom: Key Considerations Before Adding Procedures

Articles Mentioned:

• Fat Joe wants hospital price transparency
• The trends exciting ASC leaders
• Power Shift
• Veronica Pellegrino Unveils Groundbreaking Invention Set to Transform Nursing Workflows

Brought to you by HST Pathways.

Today kicks off our three-week series about capitalizing on the cardiology boom! Kristen Richards is the VP of Cardiovascular Operations at Atlas Healthcare Partners, and she will be our first guest in the series. We had a great discussion about what ASCs need to consider if they’re thinking about adding cardio cases. Preparing your infrastructure and staff has some ‘gotchas’ you do not want to overlook, so Kristen walks us through how to properly prepare. Kristen then covers capital expenses to plan for and shares the potential net revenue per case for some of these CV cases.

After my conversation with Kristen, we’ll switch to our Data & Insights segment. Today, I’ll break down the average number of accurately paid, underpaid, or overpaid claims. After sharing the stats of what 450 ASCs are experiencing, I’ll get into how you can analyze your own numbers and the steps you can take if you’re consistently getting underpaid.

Resources Mentioned:

HST’s State of the Industry Report

Brought to you by HST Pathways.