Becker's ASC Review

27 Thought Leadership ASC staffing, budgeting & growth: Big trends from Sylvia Johns By Laura Dyrda S ylvia Johns, director of surgical services for Olympia (Wash.) Orthopaedic Associates, discussed the big challenges and op- portunities orthopedic surgery centers face today. Note: Responses were edited for style and clarity. Question: What is the biggest challenge for your orthope- dic center? Sylvia Johns: e biggest challenge for our orthopedic surgery center is adapting to the increased volume of cases and staff burnout. Many orthopedic centers likely face similar issues. As our volumes have con- tinued to shi from inpatient to outpatient, we have continued to learn how to adapt to these changes. We have made a few adjustments to help us acclimate. To sustain high morale and retain our long-standing team, we have adjusted schedules to allow a combination of 10-, 12- and eight-hour shis. e staff have been pleased with the new changes and feel it al- lows for better work/life balance. In addition, we have cross-trained our nursing team in various areas within the surgery center. Presurgical preparation, operating room circulator, post anesthesia care unit, and registered nurse first assistants have been trained to cover multiple areas. Q: Where do you hope to grow for the next nine months? SJ: As volumes continue to grow, we will continue to recruit top talent to support extended hours and Saturdays in the future. Q: How do you approach budgeting and selecting new technology for your center? SJ: Our surgery center has an ASC Business Committee, which in- cludes the medical director, the director of finance, our CEO and the director of surgical services. e primary purpose of this committee is to review and determine the business/financial needs of our center. Recommendations for budget and technology are presented to the gov- erning body, which provides final approval for budget and spending. Q: What are your biggest payer challenges today? SJ: e biggest payer challenges we have faced include navigating the logistics under quality-based care models. We continue to create improved processes in collecting patient reported outcomes and creat- ing meaningful reports to share with our provider teams. Over the last three years of collecting data. we have learned various ways to engage clinical teams in the process, share the importance of responding to surveys with patients and analyze our data to improve outcomes. n Big trends in outpatient orthopedics from Dr. Vishal Mehta By Laura Dyrda V ishal Mehta, MD, is president of Fox Valley Orthopedics in Geneva, Ill. Note: Responses were edited for style and clarity. He has a special interest in ar- throscopic surgery, cartilage resto- ration, shoulder replacement and sports medicine. He also founded the Fox Valley Orthopedic Research Foundation, a biomedical research laboratory that develops orthopedic fixation devices and implants. Dr. Mehta discussed the big trends and opportunities in orthopedics today. Question: What is the biggest challenge for your ortho- pedic center today? Dr. Vishal Mehta: My biggest challenges are getting ad- equately reimbursed for total joints, preparing for bundle payments and preserving referrals amidst the wave of hos- pital employment of primary care physicians. Q: Where do you hope to grow for the next nine months? VM: Outpatient total joint replacement, particularly if we can begin to do Medicare total knees in 2020. Q: How do you approach budgeting and selecting new technology for your center? VM: New technologies are often introduced by our sur- geons. They are then vetted and trialed with the goals of improving patient care and efficiencies as well as cost containment. Q: What are your biggest payer challenges today? VM: Successfully negotiating with the large payers in our region is always a challenge. The good news is that value and improvements in patient experience and outcomes are on our side. n

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