Successful ASCs will lead the charge in designing processes from the consumer’s perspective — much like companies such as Apple — by making care delivery as seamless and convenient for patients as possible.
There are also things in which ASCs excel that can be applied to other industries, including disciplined specialization and commitment to a clear value proposition, according to executives.
These two ASC leaders recently connected with Becker’s to talk about what the ASC space can learn from other industries, and vice versa.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is one thing that the ASC space should borrow from another industry?
Rod Carbonell, BSN. Chief Development Officer of Constitution Surgery Alliance (Avon, Conn.): After 28 years in healthcare, beginning as an OR nurse in an ASC in 1998, I would respectfully reframe the question. The more compelling conversation may be what other industries can learn from the ASC model.
ASCs have delivered a proven value proposition since the 1970s. Long before value-based care entered the healthcare delivery conversation, ASCs demonstrated the ability to deliver on the quadruple aim: clinical quality, patient safety, efficiency and cost transparency. High-acuity procedures once limited to hospital operating rooms are now performed safely and efficiently in ASCs every day, with strong outcomes, high patient satisfaction and workforce retention that often outperform traditional settings.
At the core of this success is a principle many industries struggle to sustain: disciplined specialization. ASC-focused teams do not simply operate more efficiently; they develop deep clinical expertise, highly refined care pathways and a level of team cohesion difficult to replicate in many business environments. Paired with an ownership driven culture that aligns leadership, physicians and frontline caregivers around shared outcomes, ASCs foster outcomes that are both natural and durable.
Many industries rely on trends to define what they believe customers want. ASC success, however, has never been trend driven. It is the result of a sustained commitment to a clear value proposition: dedicated teams delivering exceptional care in an environment where service is embedded in the culture, patients are treated as individuals, safety remains top of mind and pricing is transparent. Simply put, the ASC operating model creates a palpable culture that benefits both those who provide care and those who receive it.
Five decades of results make the ASC model worthy of serious study. For any industry seeking to balance quality, efficiency and service, ASCs offer a blueprint that has already stood the test of time. The more relevant question may not be what ASCs should borrow from other industries, but why more industries are not studying what ASCs have already built.
Jacob Schaff, MD. Division Chief of Cardiac Anesthesiology of White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital: The ASC industry should integrate product thinking from consumer technology. When Apple designs something, they don’t start with the engineering spec. They start with the person holding the device for the first time and work backward. Every unnecessary step is a failure.
ASCs haven’t done that. Intake forms, pre-op instructions and consent workflows all make perfect sense to the people who designed them and almost no sense to the patients trying to follow them. In any other industry, that gap between what you built and what the user actually experiences would be called a product failure. In healthcare, it’s just a regular day.
The ASCs that will win the next decade aren’t just the ones with the best surgeons. They’re the ones that are easiest to be a patient in.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
