From people and culture to strategic partnerships, three ASC leaders joined Becker’s to discuss which investments drive the strongest long-term returns in the industry.
Question: What investments do you believe yield the highest long-term financial returns in the ASC setting?
Editor’s note: These responses were edited lightly for clarity and length.
Eric Callan. CEO of at LifeLinc Anesthesia (Memphis, Tenn.): Although some people might give examples of service lines (ortho, GI, ophthalmology, ENT, etc.), I believe the highest yield long-term investment is in picking the right providers and partners. I used “providers” intentionally – this includes surgeons, anesthesia and support staff. The right (or wrong people) can make all the difference in long term sustainability.
In addition, truly focusing on the patient experience to ensure that the patients understand that they are the priority. This includes everything from the look and feel of the facility to the ease of the pre-op process.
In addition to the above, operational excellence and efficiency are of paramount importance.
Matthew Cavanagh. Principal of CliftonLarsonAlan (Maumee, Ohio): The most important investment is in your workforce. Staffing pressures continue and may worsen as healthcare continues to evolve. This makes retaining valuable staff a top priority. It means investing in a strong culture where employees feel valued and have ongoing opportunities for professional growth.
ASCs are also experiencing a generational transition, with some ASC leaders retiring or moving into the next phase of life. Who has been mentored and is prepared to step into those roles in the future? ASCs must actively build their bench and transfer institutional knowledge now to ensure staff will be ready to step into these key roles.
Similarly, it’s essential to continue building your physician pipeline to maintain or grow volumes as existing surgeons retire.
DJ Hill. CEO of Compass Surgical Partners. The most valuable investment is in a partnership model that aligns physicians and health systems around shared surgical growth. When an ASC has the right structure in place which brings together surgeon ownership and clinical autonomy with a health system’s infrastructure and scale: physicians stay engaged, patients gain access to lower-cost high-quality care and health systems can focus hospital resources on higher-acuity procedures.
