5 quotes from Surgery Partners CEO Wayne DeVeydt on the company's future

Surgery Partners posted $445.4 million in second-quarter revenues but still had a net loss of $28.6 million on the quarter. Here, CEO Wayne DeVeydt describes the company's performance in a transcript provided by the Motley Fool.

Note: Responses were edited for style and clarity.

Five quotes:

On Surgery Partners' physician recruitment efforts: "Our 2018 [physician] cohort has already contributed 20 percent greater case volume in 2019 as compared to the class of 2017 cohort. More importantly, our 2018 cohort of doctors have already produced more cases, [and] have higher net revenue per case and contribution margins in the first half of 2019 than they did in all of 2018. Early data points are telling us that the class of 2019 is already delivering strong growth, which is on pace to accelerate throughout the year as they become more familiar with our facilities and supporting medical staff.

On initiatives Surgery Partners will deploy to utilize its surgery center portfolio: "These initiatives range from expansion of existing facilities in terms of number of operating and procedural rooms, the relocation of existing facilities to establish a more attractive physician recruiting space, while enhancing the patient experience, and our ability to enter into attractive innovation partnerships with existing provider systems."

On how CMS' 2020 fee schedule could affect the company: "Based on our case mix, we estimate that we will net at least a 2 percent increase if finalized, a solid increase that we believe recognizes the quality and value that we provide in the marketplace."

On how the company retains recruited physicians: "[We changed how our recruits recruit] because at the end of the day, filling the bathtub up with water only to have a leak at the bottom of the tub doesn't really accomplish our goals. So, as part of the recruitment role, they actually have a job of maintaining a partnership not only with those doctors, but the existing physicians within the facility that support us. … Originally, the goal was really to refine where our strategy was, refocus on who we recruited and how we recruited and start building more of a relationship that really stands the test of time versus the one-off recruitment of a procedure into the facility. So, again, another reason why I think over time ... you'll see us really pushing closer to that higher end on the case volume as we continue to ramp that up."

On how Surgery Partners' facilities are positioned to take advantage of total joint procedures potentially moving to the ASC payable list: "I would say, structurally, our facilities are already very well-positioned to take on this new opportunity. We have a number of OR expansions that we are doing on existing facilities this year to basically bring in the next wave of opportunity."

Read the entire transcript here.

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