Tom Jacobs has served as president of business office function provider MedHQ since 2003, helping ASCs, surgical hospitals, imaging centers and other physician-affiliated businesses improve operations and reduce costs and risks through effective management.
An expert on the tactics ASCs and hospitals use to reduce cost, Mr. Jacobs discussed with Becker's ASC Review the value of outsourcing services to third-party companies to ensure a clear focus on a provider's number one priority: patient care. He said providers can outsource services such as management, pharmacy and lab services, payroll and human resources administration, accounting and billing and collecting in order to trim down the responsibilities that might detract from quality patient care.
In August, he discussed a similar issue, saying ASCs too often "[rely] on internal staff to be experts in too many critical areas of need within the ASC. Business needs are too vast and the legal environment too complicated (and growing more complicated with each passing legislative session) for a staff of 15 to 45 or so employees to have all the expertise needed to manage an ASC."
He said ASC administrators should take a careful, honest look at the talents of their staff members and determine whether they are best suited to handle billing, collecting, employment issues and other areas that they might not be trained for. The answer, he says, is to "hire outside advisors and service providers to handle these important areas that are critical, do not require full-time attention and are not related to patient care."
By outsourcing some responsibilities, Mr. Jacobs says centers can realize significant cost savings compared to staffing the ASC with internal staff or consultants that would probably demand full-time pay.
Mr. Jacobs also serves as administrator of EndoLabs, an endoscopy/surgery center in northwest Indiana. Prior to his work with MedHQ, he worked in project management for nuclear power plants, contract staffing, placement of IT specialists and business office operations, among other fields.
Mr. Jacobs received his MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Read more about notable surgery center leaders:
-ASC Leader to Know: Tom Yerden of TRY Health Care Solutions
-ASC Leader to Know: Dr. Larry Teuber of Medical Facilities Corporation
An expert on the tactics ASCs and hospitals use to reduce cost, Mr. Jacobs discussed with Becker's ASC Review the value of outsourcing services to third-party companies to ensure a clear focus on a provider's number one priority: patient care. He said providers can outsource services such as management, pharmacy and lab services, payroll and human resources administration, accounting and billing and collecting in order to trim down the responsibilities that might detract from quality patient care.
In August, he discussed a similar issue, saying ASCs too often "[rely] on internal staff to be experts in too many critical areas of need within the ASC. Business needs are too vast and the legal environment too complicated (and growing more complicated with each passing legislative session) for a staff of 15 to 45 or so employees to have all the expertise needed to manage an ASC."
He said ASC administrators should take a careful, honest look at the talents of their staff members and determine whether they are best suited to handle billing, collecting, employment issues and other areas that they might not be trained for. The answer, he says, is to "hire outside advisors and service providers to handle these important areas that are critical, do not require full-time attention and are not related to patient care."
By outsourcing some responsibilities, Mr. Jacobs says centers can realize significant cost savings compared to staffing the ASC with internal staff or consultants that would probably demand full-time pay.
Mr. Jacobs also serves as administrator of EndoLabs, an endoscopy/surgery center in northwest Indiana. Prior to his work with MedHQ, he worked in project management for nuclear power plants, contract staffing, placement of IT specialists and business office operations, among other fields.
Mr. Jacobs received his MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Read more about notable surgery center leaders:
-ASC Leader to Know: Tom Yerden of TRY Health Care Solutions
-ASC Leader to Know: Dr. Larry Teuber of Medical Facilities Corporation