At the 21st Annual Becker's ASC Conference in Chicago on Oct. 24, Jeff Peo, Chief Development Officer of the Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America in Hanover, Mass., shared four ways to build volume at your ASC.
"There is no secret sauce or magic wand you can wave to build volume, it just takes good, hard work," said Mr. Peo.
While there may not be a secret sauce, Mr. Peo shared the following four steps to help your ASC build volume.
- Add the right cases. According to Mr. Peo, building volume is less about accepting as many cases as possible and more about accepting the right kinds of cases. For instance, knowing which specialties your ASC already does well and adding cases to those specialties is a great way to build volume.
- Recruit physicians. ASC administrators should adapt an always be recruiting mindset when it comes to physicians. By continually updating your market analysis, you can keep track of which physicians are available, which are coming off contracts, which are newer to the market and which are credentialed. Holding an open house for primary care physicians is another great tool.
- Add additional cases. Joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions with physician groups, hospitals and other ASCs should not be discounted as another possible method of building volume.
- Protect the cases you have. Volume isn't all about adding cases, it's also about avoiding the case erosion that tends to occur when physicians retire and patients delay surgeries.