Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/948573
40 OUTPATIENT SURGERY The Growth of Outpatient Spine, Spine and ASCs and More By Scott Becker I had the great privilege to talk at Richard Wohns' Mazama Spine Summit 2018. Richard Wohns, MD, has developed this event into a mini Davos-World Economic Forum of spine. People ask me how can you fly and drive nine hours to give a 15 to 30 minute talk and drive right back and I tell them Richard Wohns. Richard is loyal, brilliant, motivated and more. A Harvard Medical School grad, a black belt and a climber of the Himalayas, he also manages to have his adult children come back to the Mazama mountains and partici- pate in the conference. Amazing. On ASCs and spine we note as follows. 1. Growth of outpatient spine cases in the last 10 years from 5,000 to 300,000 cases, moving from a few percent to nearly 50 percent of spine cases being performed outpatient. 2. Spine device companies are still making plenty of money. 3. A transformation of payer-hospital rela- tionships with increasing breakdowns in this very cozy traditional relationship. 4. ASCs and spine are a mixed bag, in part due to the relationship between hospitals and payers, and how much payers rely on hospi- tals for the supply side of medical care. Payers are still cautious about letting ASCs in even if they are cheaper. 5. United/Optum acquiring SCA and em- ploying 40,000 doctors demonstrates a sea change in payer-hospital relationships. 6. Spine-focused ASCs tend to do well if built rationally, supplemented by a pain program or other specialties; the centers can be in-net- work and efficient. ere are also some chains that still operate out-of-network but they are feisty and face challenges. Most don't. Some great practices are still self-pay only. 7. e opioid epidemic will have a crazy lev- el of fallout for some large companies that arguably really contributed to the epidemic. Who would have thought that Rush Lim- baugh's well-publicized problems with opi- ates would be a kind of canary in the coal mine as to opiates. 8. Healthcare reform remains tremendous- ly uncertain. In the mean time, more pay is from the government in one way or anoth- er than ever before. Practices need to keep blocking and tackling and keep their eyes open; big disruptions are coming from out- side healthcare and from the change to hospi- tal-payer relationships. 9. Medicare adding spine codes to the ASC payable list is a net positive, but it has had a marginal impact at best on spine-driven ASCs. n Surgery Partners Brings on Another Anthem Exec as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Interim CFO: 5 Things to Know By Laura Dyrda S urgery Partners appointed R. David Kretschmer chief strategy and transformation officer as well as interim CFO. "2018 will be a transformative year for our company, and we are excited to add David to our leadership team," said CEO Wayne DeVeydt. "David brings unique experience, perspective and motivation to Surgery Partners, along with a strong financial background and a history of generating superior results." Here are five things to know: 1. Prior to joining Surgery Partners, Mr. Kretschmer was senior vice president of treasury and corporate strategy at Anthem. He spent more than 25 yeas of his career at Anthem, holding various leadership roles and eventually managing Anthem's $24 billion investment portfolio. Mr. DeVeydt, also a former Anthem executive, joined Surgery Partners as CEO Jan. 5. 2. Mr. Kretschmer has experience in treasury and corpo- rate finance, enterprise risk management and corporate strategy and development, as well as cash collections and disbursements. 3. Mr. Kretschmer will take on the role of interim CFO in the near term, replacing Teresa Sparks, who stepped down to pursue other opportunities. She spent a com- bined 20 years with Symbion and Surgery Partners, lead- ing the legacy company Symbion after Surgery Partners acquired the firm. Surgery Partners retained Russell Reyn- olds, an executive search firm, to support efforts to ap- point a permanent CFO. 4. Ms. Sparks will continue to support Mr. Kretschmer and the transition of the finance and investor relations func- tions, and consult with Surgery Partners for six months until a permanent CFO is identified. 5. In tandem with announcing the leadership moves, Sur- gery Partners reaffirmed guidance for 2017 revenue of $1.3 billion to $1.33 billion. The company currently has 180 locations in 32 states, including ASCs and surgical hospitals. n