Tina Piotrowski – Q+A: How to Prepare for and Navigate Board-Level Conversations

Here’s what to expect on this week’s episode. 🎙️

A few weeks ago, at ASCA2024, Tina Piotrowski joined HST’s session as a panelist alongside Dr. David Shapiro and Nick Latz to discuss How to Prepare for and Navigate Board-Level Conversations. We were so impressed with the audience engagement, so much so that we had a bunch of questions that we couldn’t get to due to time constraints.

Tina has been gracious enough to give us a few more minutes of her time, and here are the questions Tina answered in this week’s episode:

• Can you describe your process for preparing for your quarterly board meetings?

• How do you maintain effective communication and relationships with board members between meetings?

• For a small ASC, is it okay to hold only two board meetings a year?

• How do you approach differing opinions from board members during a meeting?

• How do you deal with a medical director who doesn’t want any part of the business side?

• What committees do you have or would you recommend outside of the board?

• What is the difference between a consent agenda and an active agenda?

• How much time do you spend on the consent agenda at the meeting?

• What are your opinions about non-owners attending board meetings?

Find the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to hear all the details.

Episode Transcript

0:29
Here’s what you can expect on today’s episode.

0:32
Tina Piachowski is the CEO of Copper Ridge Surgery Center.

0:36
And a few weeks ago at ASCA, Tina joined HST Session as a panelist alongside Doctor David Shapiro and Nick Latz to discuss how to prepare for and navigate board level conversations.

0:49
So the session was very well attended and very well received.

0:53
So much so that we had a bunch of questions that we weren’t able to get to because we ran out of time.

0:59
So Tina has been gracious enough to give us a few more minutes of her time so that we can get those questions answered.

1:06
Today in our news recap, we’ll cover highlights from the Ask a conference a few weeks ago with over 1200 attendees, 50 sessions, 150 plus exhibitors.

1:18
It’s always a great week for knowledge sharing and networking, and there were definitely 6 hot topics or common themes I kept hearing over the course of the week.

1:28
I’ll shed some light on those.

1:29
And of course, we’ll still end the new segment with a positive story that came out of ASCA.

1:35
Hope everyone enjoys the episode and here’s what’s going on this week in surgery centers.

1:44
Hi Tina, welcome to the podcast.

1:46
Thanks Erica.

1:48
Before we jump in, can you please tell us a little bit more about yourself and your healthcare experience?

1:54
Sure.

1:55
I have been in the ASC industry for 20 years now.

1:58
Currently, I am the CEO at Coverage Surgery Center.

2:02
We’re a large multi specialty surgery center and happy to be on the podcast.

2:08
We are very happy to have you.

2:10
So some of our listeners who attended ASCA a few weeks ago might actually recognize the title of this podcast episode because you were kind enough to join HST for a panel discussion in Orlando to talk about exactly this, how to prepare for and navigate those board level conversations.

2:29
And you were also joined by Nick Latz and Doctor David Shapiro, who shared wonderful insights as well.

2:36
And the session was very well attended and well received, so much so that we had almost 10 questions that we weren’t able to get to because we ran out of time.

2:45
So I’m excited to continue at that discussion and get those questions answered today.

2:51
I do also want to note that I will include a link to the slides from the Ask A session in the episode notes.

2:56
So if anyone listening wasn’t able to attend, those slides are still available to you.

3:01
OK.

3:02
First question, can you please describe your process for preparing for your quarterly board meetings?

3:10
Sure.

3:11
We start with drafting the meeting minutes very soon after each board meeting so we can start to address any action items they may need.

3:19
Follow up.

3:21
I keep an ongoing list from quarter to quarter of topics or things that I know I want to be sure to include in the board discussion and that is keeps me organized from quarter to quarter.

3:35
Two weeks before each board meeting I meet with the I I meet with the board Co chairs and we review the consent agenda and the active agenda and we finalize that together.

3:46
So we’re all on the same page and making sure that we know what is going to be discussed.

3:52
And then one week out, we send the board packet electronically via secure link to all of the board members.

3:59
This gives all the board members the chance to review the materials and be prepared for the meeting.

4:05
Perfect.

4:07
And another question that we received, how do you maintain effective communication and relationships with board members between meetings?

4:17
That’s a great question and I found that setting up a touch base with each board member in between the quarterly board meetings is an effective way to maintain that communication with my board.

4:30
For instance, if you have individuals that are on your board that you don’t see on a regular basis in your center, if if you have a hospital partner or if you have a management company partner, I would recommend that you set up a one-on-one in between each board meeting and it gives you an opportunity to accomplish 2 things.

4:51
First, you have the opportunity to get to know each other a little bit on a one-on-one basis outside of the board meeting.

4:59
And #2, it really does keep those lines of communication open for physicians that are working in your center that are on your board.

5:07
You generally have access to them pretty regularly if they’re in your center performing cases.

5:13
I have found that for the physicians for for the most part, they like to just have more frequent informal touch bases in between the board meeting.

5:23
So I’ll connect with them when they’re here either before their day starts or at the end of their day or in between cases if they have a few minutes.

5:33
And that’s a good way to keep that communication going with your physicians too.

5:38
Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.

5:39
It probably helps to build a ton of trust too, of being able to have that informal conversation, getting to know each other and also just having like an off the record kind of space to ask questions or whatever they need to do.

5:52
And I’m always very clear to ask, was there anything that you need from me?

5:56
Is there anything that you know that I can prepare for you or anything that I can help for, for my board members to make sure that they’re prepared for the board meetings, but just having that one-on-one conversation in between 2:00 to get to know each other and to build that trust, I think it’s a very good thing, Yeah.

6:15
Are and are those usually virtual in person?

6:19
How do you, what’s the format of those meetings?

6:22
Yeah, great question.

6:23
Normally they’re virtual with with the individuals that I don’t get to see in my center.

6:28
So that just works out best for everybody.

6:32
And but yeah, and then the physicians, it’s in person because I’m just seeing them when they’re here at the center.

6:39
Nice, perfect.

6:41
OK.

6:42
This actually this question, we did answer in person, but I felt it was an important one to revisit for a smaller ASC.

6:50
Do you think it’s OK to do only two board meetings per year?

6:55
Yeah, that’s a great question.

6:57
And I guess it would depend on the definition of a small center.

7:01
If it’s just one or two physicians and if they’re operating maybe just a couple days a week, I can see where twice a year might be enough.

7:11
I would suggest that you take a look at your operating agreement and see if there’s any language that speaks to frequency of meetings.

7:20
They’re very well may not be, but just in case, it would be good to make sure that you are following any of your organizational documents that might have any direction on how to handle board meetings.

7:35
But I think that ideally, no matter how large or how small you are, there’s so many moving parts in your ASC that I would recommend quarterly board meetings because it’s amazing how much even can happen in a small center from quarter to quarter that you’re planning for or you’re looking ahead or you’re reviewing the previous quarter’s activities.

7:58
And my recommendation is to do quarterly, but there it might work very well for some centers to just meet twice a year depending on on their unique situation.

8:09
Sure, because if I’m correct me here, but CMS requires an annual meeting and then the quarterly part of it is just a recommended best practice.

8:20
That’s been my experience.

8:22
Yes, perfect.

8:25
Thank you.

8:26
Next question, how do you approach differing opinions from board members during meetings?

8:34
That’s a great question, and I think differing opinions isn’t a negative thing.

8:39
You do want each board member to feel empowered to speak up if they have an opposing viewpoint.

8:45
Personally, for myself, having served on several boards both in the ASC industry as well as outside of healthcare for nonprofits, I think it is.

8:55
It’s each board member’s responsibility to act in the best interest of the organization that you serve, and I think it should be a safe place to be able to raise your hand and say I respectfully disagree.

9:08
And for a board member to be able to state their reasoning why and to have that dialogue I think is very important because you do lean on your board to help you navigate decisions for your center and you do want to have alignment.

9:25
I think another opportunity is to keep the focus on the mission and vision of the center and that can help make sure that everybody’s aligned towards the mutual goals for your organization.

9:39
We keep our mission and vision statements at the top of our consent agenda just as a reminder for our quarterly board meetings of what our what our mission is, what our vision statement and also we build all of our strategic initiatives from from those mission and vision statements.

9:59
And I think that if we keep the focus on how are we aligning ourselves to achieve the goals that we’ve determined for the organization, You have to work through those.

10:11
And if there is a differing opinion, that’s valid and it’s worth hearing.

10:16
And it might cause the board to think about things in a way that maybe they hadn’t thought about before.

10:23
So I think it should be, I think everybody’s input should be respected and given equal consideration.

10:31
They’re a valuable part of leading your organization.

10:35
Yeah, I think that’s great perspective and also a much more positive way of looking at it, of differing opinions are OK, and they do help drive good dialogue, viewpoints you might not have thought of and all of that.

10:49
So yeah, I think that’s OK And I love that you keep the mission and vision on top of the agenda because if someone starts to go astray, you can guide them back to, here’s why we’re here, here’s the end goal.

11:02
So along the same lines but a little different, how do you deal with the medical director who doesn’t want any part of the business side of an ASC?

11:12
That’s a good question.

11:14
That’s a tough one.

11:15
I guess first I would say that everyone should have a clear understanding of the role of the medical director in your facility.

11:22
This may also be spelled out your operating agreement or your medical staff bylaws and or your medical staff rules and regulations.

11:31
So I think defining what that role is important and everybody should have clarity on really what that medical director position encompasses.

11:42
In addition, I’ve seen some ASCs that have a separate medical director agreement or a medical director job description and that kind of outlines what their roles and their duties are also.

11:54
And I’ve often found that the medical director serves as a liaison between the medical staff and the governing body of the ASC and the administrator.

12:05
The role may be spelled out that the focus is more on delivery of quality care in the organization, credentialing, peer review, those types of responsibilities, and may not have specific business functions tied to that role as medical director.

12:23
So I think be sure as to what the role of the medical director is in your facility and don’t assume that they have to be intimately knowledgeable of all of the business side of it because that might not actually be the way your center has designed that rule.

12:43
So I would definitely take a look at that And and you can also have your legal counsel weigh in on it as well too to see if there’s some guidance that they can offer.

12:53
Yeah, I think that’s great advice and I always go back to the like storytelling.

12:57
So if you do have a medical director that maybe doesn’t want to lean in.

13:00
If you’re able to provide a few examples of in the past when someone has here’s the positive outcomes, here’s why it mattered or here’s why you at least need to understand very high level what’s going on that might give them that light bulb too of oh wow, if I did understand the projections or the short term growth strategy, it would help me to in do XY and Z.

13:22
So that could help too.

13:23
Yes, good point.

13:26
So we actually did for this next question a whole episode on the benefits of pulling out a financial committee and kind of meeting a week before the board meeting.

13:35
But what committees do you have and or would you recommend having outside of the board.

13:43
Sure.

13:43
Your center may have a Medical Executive committee and that focuses on a lot of medical staff type of things, especially credentialing or reappointments.

13:57
KWAPI.

13:57
Of course your Quality Assurance and Process Improvement program is needing to meet regularly outside of the board meeting HIPAA.

14:06
You may have a HIPAA committee, You may have a safety committee, Certainly infection prevention that may be a stand alone committee if it’s not already incorporated into your KWAPI program and patient satisfaction that could be a committee also in a in a center.

14:24
So those are those are some of the ones that I’ve experienced.

14:28
Yeah and have.

14:30
Do they typically all meet ahead of time and then you present findings at the committee or are some of them a little more relaxed and how often they meet or things that might need to be presented?

14:42
Yeah, the Kwabi committee, the medical executive committee are meeting quarterlies.

14:47
They’re meeting in advance and leading up to the board meeting.

14:50
So then their meeting minutes can be are incorporated into the read ahead for the consent agenda and then also HIPAA, safety, infection prevention, patient satisfaction.

15:01
Those might not necessarily meet every quarter, but anytime that they do meet, their meeting minutes are also incorporated into into the what is delivered to the board.

15:13
Perfect.

15:15
Now we had a lot of questions about consent agendas.

15:18
So these next two are related.

15:21
What is the difference between a consent agenda and an active agenda?

15:25
And then how much time do you spend on the consent agenda at the meeting?

15:30
Good questions.

15:31
The consent agenda includes items that typically will not require discussion or a vote.

15:38
So you may see some typical consent agenda items would be the board meeting minutes from the from the previous meeting as well as all the committee meeting minutes that I just mentioned from the various committees that met since the last board meeting.

15:55
Informational materials such as leadership reports, patient satisfaction summaries and comments, any particular policies for review.

16:05
So basically the consent agenda has all of these materials that the consent agenda does have to be voted on and approved and accepted, but there can be items that an individual on the board requests to be pulled down from the consent agenda and discussed on the active agenda.

16:29
And so that is the opportunity to do that.

16:33
If individual board member has some questions about something in one of the committee meetings or a question about a new policy or anything like that that they want to have further discussion on, that gets pulled down.

16:47
But so the consent agenda really provides all of that information that you’re required to keep your board informed with.

16:55
And that way you don’t have to spend all the time when you have the on the active agenda going through a lot of these reports.

17:02
And that is all shared ahead of time.

17:05
And the board members have an opportunity to read through everything.

17:09
And then when you start with the consent, when you have the consent agenda, then you go on to your active agenda next.

17:20
So basically at the top of your active agenda you are voting to approve the at the consent agenda.

17:30
So unless there’s items that want to be pulled down then those are brought down for discussion.

17:35
So everything on the consent agenda is, you know, it’s stored on the network in the Board of Managers folder.

17:43
So you know anybody can go back and take a look at those actual documents.

17:48
Again, as I’ve said, they’ve all been shared with the board ahead of time.

17:52
So they’ve had an opportunity to read and review everything.

17:56
And then you move on to the active agenda where is really that’s where you’re going to have more discussion and and more votes and approvals on things on the active agenda.

18:06
So really that active agenda is really the working agenda that is utilized to run the meeting.

18:12
And so once you have a quorum determined and meetings called order as I mentioned, then you’ll go on and to accept and approve the consent agenda unless there’s items that get brought down.

18:24
And then you can move into your active agenda, which is going to be really your working agenda.

18:29
And that’s going to have things that would be that you are discussing and sharing such as your quality reports, medical director reports, approval of credentialing or reappointments, the administrator’s report, financial reports, any old business and any new business.

18:50
And that is your active agenda.

18:52
And that tends to help you move along when you have all of that material that is required to be shared with your governing body, but doesn’t necessarily need to be discussed unless somebody has a question.

19:07
Sure.

19:07
I’d imagine that saves A tremendous amount of time.

19:11
Definitely, because you really want to be able to focus your time, your valuable time with your board meeting on the things that are going to need discussion and take action.

19:22
Perfect.

19:23
All right.

19:23
Here’s our last board related question.

19:26
What are your opinions about non owners attending board meetings?

19:32
So that’s a good question.

19:33
I’m wondering if the individual asking was referencing A physician non owner.

19:39
I’m assuming that might be what the what the question was speaking to.

19:46
This is going to be my personal opinion, but I would not be in favor of of this unless there was a special item on the agenda that the individual has asked to present or speak on SO if a non owner.

20:00
And again, I’m going to assume this is a physician has something that they want to maybe they are involved in a research study or they are requesting a new piece of equipment or something like that and they want to be able to present at the board level.

20:21
I think that they can be certainly a guest and can be on the agenda, but I think the board chair would have to be OK with that and make sure that it’s on the agenda ahead of time.

20:33
And then I would have this individual at the top of the agenda to cover their topic and then be excused from the rest of the meeting.

20:42
But there’s a lot of liability and responsibility that the board has and I think that you do want to limit it to those that are in those roles that are given those titles and those those that responsibility.

20:58
And certainly you have directors and officers insurance that outlines who’s covered under that policy.

21:05
And I don’t know that you would necessarily want to have non voting board members as a regular part of your board meeting, but every every ASC is different.

21:17
Every ASC might feel that it’s OK.

21:21
But I again this would probably be an area that I would recommend is center seek some legal guidance on from their legal counsel just to make sure that it’s OK.

21:34
Yeah, I think that makes sense.

21:35
And I like the idea of if there is that one off case where you need to have them bring them in up at the top of the agenda, do what you got to do and then keep everything else internal confidential and all of that.

21:48
And I realized I want to go back to the question on how much time do you spend on the consent agenda at the meeting.

21:55
I realized I didn’t include that in my response.

21:57
Really typically it’s just a minute or so because really if it’s being approved and nobody wants to bring anything down from the consent agenda to the active agenda, it really doesn’t require hardly any time at all.

22:12
So just enough to have it approved.

22:14
Yeah, I think that’s great.

22:16
And I’m going rogue with this question.

22:18
This is submitted by me now.

22:20
Could you think of an example of something that a board member would want to bring down and maybe discuss further?

22:28
Yeah, that’s a good question.

22:29
My experience, it doesn’t really happen that often, but it has happened.

22:33
I think.

22:34
I think it may have been perhaps related to something in maybe something in the medical executive committee meeting minutes or something in the quality committee meeting minutes that maybe somebody had a question on or asked, wanted some clarification on.

22:53
But generally it’s really a minor thing that really just is providing A clarifying answer and isn’t generally requiring a lot of discussion.

23:05
Perfect.

23:08
All right, Tina.

23:08
We do this every week with our guests.

23:10
What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?

23:16
That’s a great question and there’s certainly a lot.

23:19
But really, I think what I wanted to say is just to be intentional in thanking your staff and physicians at every opportunity as an administrator.

23:30
There’s so much for us to be thankful for with the work that every team member does every day to keep our centers running.

23:37
We certainly cannot do it without our staff and without our physicians.

23:41
And I think that it just can go a long way to make sure that you are thanking people every day when you’re out and about in your center and thanking physicians for being there and bringing cases and thanking the staff for everything that they do to keep the center running on any given day.

23:59
So that would be my advice.

24:02
That is great advice.

24:04
Thank you so much for your time in Orlando, your time today.

24:07
We really appreciate it.

24:10
Thank you so much Erica for today’s news.

24:18
We are going to go through the six key takeaways and trends from the ASCO 2024 conference.

24:24
So I hope most of you were there, but if you weren’t, there were six hot topics that were consistently coming up through the general session, all the individual sessions.

24:34
So I wanted to put a quick list together to share with all of you.

24:38
And this first one should really come as no surprise to anybody, but it is cardiovascular.

24:44
So the interest in CV cases is only continuing to grow as the shift of these types of cases migrate from inpatient to outpatient settings.

24:54
So Kristen Richards is the Vice President of Cardiovascular Operations at Atlas and she LED a really compelling session that I set it on all around the future trends in this area.

25:06
It’s also important to note that this was a really prominent part of the general session discussion as well.

25:12
So here’s what the future is predicted to hold.

25:15
More complex procedures and further additions will be added to the ASC covered procedures list.

25:22
More imaging centers, more Cath labs, Maybe a virtual, some virtual cardiac rehabilitation wearables.

25:30
There’s a lot to dive into in this area.

25:34
It is important to note though that the transition to outpatient care is unique across all states, so some states have not yet approved procedures to be done in this area.

25:44
So there is some legislative work to be done as well.

25:47
And one notable area for improvement that Kristen leaned in on was around benchmarking.

25:52
So currently there are no established benchmarks for Cath labs specifically to demonstrate positive outcomes.

25:59
But data is required, right if you’re trying to lobby to get these types of cases approved in your state.

26:06
So she had recommended that we could use Hop D data in the interim as a solution.

26:13
So really great session if you still have the Ask A app.

26:16
I don’t know when the cut off date is, but you can go in and download all the slides if you want to as well.

26:21
So highly recommend checking out Kristen’s slides if you do have a chance or if you are interested in kind of more this this cardiac side of the house.

26:31
The 2nd trend is of course around cybersecurity.

26:34
So AS CS do really seem to be batten down the hatches when it comes to cybersecurity.

26:40
The recent breach at Change Healthcare of course came up a bunch of times.

26:44
And also, if you just keep up with the news, it seems every day there’s a new story of another successful cyber attack on some sort of healthcare provider.

26:53
And someone in the general session, Forgive me, I can’t remember who shared that They estimates suggest that 86% of organizations face multiple data breaches within a single year.

27:04
So just a few tips that were shared basically all around AS CS adopting A proactive stance.

27:11
So that could look like training your staff, obviously securing your networks, reaching out to your vendors, making sure you have a plan with your vendors in advance and not just try to come up with a plan once something happens.

27:25
And then of course, trying to weave security into the culture of your surgery center.

27:33
This third topic, I was really excited to hear more people talking about this, more so than usual.

27:39
But the idea of patient education is just becoming more popular than ever.

27:44
So as patients are increasingly taking on this role of informed consumers, they’re asking questions.

27:51
They’re expecting transparent answers, and they’re also seeking more involved, active involvement in their care.

27:58
So why should you lean into patient education?

28:01
The general consensus is that as competition in healthcare intensifies, offering educational resources and informative videos can significantly enhance trust, comfort, and overall patient satisfaction.

28:13
So let’s say there’s a someone in your community who knows they need a hip replacement.

28:19
Their doctor told them on about five years.

28:21
Let’s say you’re going to need a hip replacement.

28:23
So they’re going to maybe take to YouTube, take to Google, talk to their friends, But they’re on YouTube, right?

28:29
And maybe they’re looking up what the recovery process is like or success rates or just trying to educate themselves.

28:36
I want them.

28:37
And the idea is that when they’re on YouTube searching locally or even on Google, your website, your YouTube channel, your educational videos and resources will come up.

28:47
So they see your name and they already start building that loyalty to you.

28:51
So that in a few years, let’s in this example when they know OK, it’s go time, they’re going to have your surgery center top of mind and they’re already going to have that trusted relationship with you.

29:02
So and that’s the general idea, but some examples that were shared so that you could help demystify the experience of having surgery.

29:10
Obviously robotics came up a lot and I think as consumers and patients were confused a little about what is the role of a robot in an operating room.

29:19
So if you do use robotic technology, creating videos, having doctors talking about what the robot does, and reassuring patients know the robot will not be performing surgeries alone on you, whatever the common misconception are robotic technology, maybe?

29:35
Patient safety protocols, what to expect on the day of your procedure, what the recovery process is like, the difference between an ASC and a hospital, whatever questions you feel like you’re consistently answering over and over again will be worth the effort of creating some sort of resource on your website that patients can reference.

29:56
So patient education, the fourth topic was of course one that needed to be addressed and that is staffing shortages.

30:03
So again, no surprise that this was a big topic of discussion and I know everyone’s always looking for tips here.

30:10
There just is no one-size-fits-all solution.

30:14
But one common theme I did see come up over and over again was about making your staffing schedules as flexible as possible.

30:22
And while there’s a ton of benefits to that, this approach specifically targets millennials and Gen.

30:29
Z workers.

30:30
So they are willing to work, we are willing to work 36 plus hours a week, whatever your shift schedule might look like over time all of that.

30:39
But they highly value and most of the time expect the ability to select shifts that suit their schedule.

30:46
So that sense of control over their time will enhance job satisfaction and prove to be crucial in attracting and retaining these younger employees And embracing this flexible scheduling approach can really help address workforce challenges.

31:04
All right, the 5th hot topic.

31:05
Now you might have seen this if you came by HS CS booth or attended Will Evans session on data, but the topic was all around kind of data-driven proactive operations.

31:16
So what does that mean?

31:18
Basically the world has changed for AS CS, what worked 5-10 years ago is not necessarily working anymore in terms of revenue and profitability.

31:28
So with stagnating reimbursements, increasing competition, higher acuity cases, staffing shortages and basically just the rising cost of everything, the most successful and profitable centers are focused on efficient, data-driven, proactive operations.

31:44
So an adjacent theme was also around the importance of benchmarking your data both internally and externally too.

31:52
So all of that to say, the theme was basically data, but knowing where to start can really feel overwhelming.

32:00
So here are some tips that we’ll shared and that others shared as well.

32:04
So data-driven operations is a spectrum.

32:08
Everyone is starting at different points in this data journey, so maybe you start with canned reports, right?

32:14
They come right out of your PM system.

32:16
Whatever software tools you’re using, you have these canned reports.

32:21
Once you get comfortable with those, maybe then you’re going to put them in a spreadsheet, You’re going to start playing around with them, filters, maybe you’re making some bar graphs, getting crazy.

32:29
And then the next level from there is you’re now you’re looking for these dashboards, this automated stuff.

32:35
No one expects anybody to just jump to the end of this.

32:38
It’s a spectrum that you can build on and turning your data into a story is key.

32:45
It’s really hard for people to resonate just with numbers, but it’s easy to resonate with a compelling story.

32:51
Then it includes the current state, future state.

32:54
Here’s where we’re at.

32:55
If we could improve X amount, it’s going to bring in this much revenue.

32:58
Then we could buy this new technology, whatever it is, focus on the story.

33:03
Starting with binary non subjective KPIs is really helpful to practice and gain comfort.

33:09
So some examples are verification rates, days to bill claim denial rates, and then basically that concept of just starting small.

33:17
Don’t be so intimidated by what the end goal is that you’re afraid to get started.

33:23
If you have not historically relied on data to make your decisions, just start.

33:30
And the 6th theme was total joints.

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So with more joint procedures being added to the ASC covered procedures list, incorporating these procedures into your services can really be a wise financial decision.

33:44
So Lisa Austin, who is a healthcare consultant at Avanza Healthcare Strategies provided really valuable insights on developing a successful total joint arthroplasty program at your ASC.

33:56
This was a really great session.

33:58
Again, if you can get your hands on these slides, I highly recommend it.

34:02
And her three critical factors for success that she shared was one surgeon readiness.

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So making sure your surgeons are well trained, committed, motivated, up to date credentials.

34:13
The second was patient selection.

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So carefully assessing patients acuity levels, their at home support their expectations and she actually suggested that you should consider conducting home evaluations in order to enhance outcomes and patient safety too.

34:31
And then the third was a reimbursement strategy.

34:33
So make sure you’re reviewing your charge master, existing contracts, vendor relationships, all of that will help optimize financial returns.

34:41
Now again, I’m oversimplifying all the advice you gave if you’re interested in bringing total joints to your program.

34:47
So get your hands on those slides and focusing on those areas that I just shared will help establish A robust program that will meet both clinical and your business objectives.

34:59
And to end our new segment, on a positive note, ASCA elected a new Board President at the conference, Mark Wehner.

35:07
So Mark is currently the Senior Director of ASCA Acquisition and Development at Community Health Systems and he was elected as a new Board President during the conference, Mark said.

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And I quote, I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as President and look forward to continuing to work with our surgery center members.

35:26
Ask a team members, vendors, affiliates, government entities, legislators and sponsors to support the mission and goals of the association.

35:34
Outgoing President, Mandy Hawkins will remain on the board as immediate past President.

35:39
Congrats to all the new and remaining board members.

35:42
And a huge thank you to ASCA for organizing another wonderful conference on behalf of the industry.

35:48
Those were the six trends and one positive story I pulled out of the conference.

35:51
But if you thought I missed anything or want to elaborate on anything I shared, please head to LinkedIn, comment on this post, shoot me an e-mail.

36:00
I would love to hear your thoughts on how the conference went as well, and that officially wraps up this week’s podcast.

36:08
Thank you, as always for spending a few minutes of your week with us.

36:11
Make sure to subscribe or leave a review on whichever platform you’re listening from.

36:16
I hope you have a great day and we will see you again next week.