Becker's ASC Review

30 Thought Leadership The state of SurgCenter Development — COO Dr. Greg Fox offers 4 insights By Eric Oliver T owson, Md.-based SurgCenter De- velopment started 2019 off in full-on growth-mode, with the company entering into several new partnerships. With more than 200 facilities developed since its inception, SurgCenter cur- rently touts a portfolio of 119 operational facilities across 25 states, with 12 under development. Now, halfway through 2019, SurgCenter Development's COO Greg Fox, MD, offered Becker's ASC Review sev- eral insights into the company and its future. Note: Responses were edited for style and clarity. Question: How would you describe SurgCenter Develop- ment to someone who hasn't heard of it before? Dr. Greg Fox: SurgCenter empowers surgeons. We are the most prolific and effective de novo surgery center developer in the industry, creating high-quality, low-overhead patient- and surgeon-centric ASCs with long- term sustainability. Our model allows physicians to focus on what they do best, patient care, while we focus on the success of the partnership. Q: What's in store for the rest of 2019? GF: We've already opened nine new facilities this year and will con- tinue this trend with 12 centers currently under development. We will also remain the industry leader in outpatient joint replacements, hitting 40,000 joint replacements performed at our facilities in the next few weeks. When it comes to rapid growth and maximizing value through complex service lines, SurgCenter is out front. Q: Three years down the road, what will the company become? GF: We have always been and always will be, first and foremost, a surgery center development company. While payer strategies, opera- tional efficiencies and patient engagement are always evolving, we will continue to focus on what we do better than anyone else: develop surgery centers. Q: What is one trend emerging in the ASC space that you've taken notice of and think others should notice? GF: Patients are really paying attention and becoming more educated about their surgical care, which is a good thing. Years ago, physicians had to explain the concept of an ASC to their patients. ese days patients are reluctant to have surgery in hospitals and are requesting the ASC setting, an indicator that patients are better informed of the quality and cost benefits of different sites of service. n Finally, the high cost of orthopedic implants is challenging given that suppliers charge ASCs the same price as hospitals. However, it costs less to perform surgery in an outpatient sur- gical center, and we believe this should be taken into consid- eration when it comes to the cost of equipment. Q: Where do you hope to grow for the next nine months? LL: Many physicians within The Centers for Advanced Or- thopaedics are performing surgery in the outpatient setting. We hope to expand our services and provide what have traditionally been hospital-based surgeries in the outpatient setting at the ASCs where we operate, including sophisti- cated procedures like spinal fusions. We are also aiming to expand patient parameters to operate on patients who may be older, overweight or have serious health conditions, in cases where it is safe for the patient. Q: How do you approach budgeting for and selecting new technology for your center? LL: Those of us at The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics who have ASC leadership roles are very careful and strate- gic when selecting new technology for orthopedic surgery centers. Since our doctors have varying levels of ownership in ASCs, we need to be more financially mindful than a hospital. However, since we have more control, we can push for new technology that we are passionate about and have more influence over what is purchased. Q: What are your biggest payer challenges today? LL: We as physicians understand the many benefits for eligible patients who seek treatment in an outpatient set- ting, including decreased risk of infection, more convenient access to care, and a quicker return home. Unfortunately, for commercial payers, the reimbursements for outpatient surgery have lagged behind the payments made for the same procedure at the hospital. Consequently, there is less incentive to move the surgery to the outpatient setting. In the future, physicians and ASCs will be sharing risk with the commercial payers to reduce the cost of care for all musculoskeletal disease. Perhaps then, we as physicians will enjoy more cooperative effort by the payers to promote outpatient surgery. n

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