ASCs are regarded for their ability to provide quality customer service, which has been a challenge for some centers post-pandemic.
Linda Deeming, the center director for Salud Family Health Centers in Fort Lupton, Colo., spoke with Becker's ASC Review on how ASCs are struggling to treat patients while adhering to COVID-19 restrictions.
Question: Where are ASCs still struggling a year into the pandemic?
Linda Deeming: The bottom line is we’ve lost our passion and our drive and the reason we got into the ASC business in the first place: helping patients by presenting them with a faster, better, lower-cost alternative to the hospital.
We were also able to offer our staff better hours, better pay and a kinder workplace. We worked efficiently and, in turn, we were attracting happier staff and patients who were happier about their surgical experience, even before it started.
Then everything stopped. So many changes were mandated and at a rapid pace. Honestly, customer service became a struggle. Patients feel angry and they voice their anger, which makes it harder for front-line staff to remain positive.
Customer service has become secondary as many of us just try to get through what we need to do to get through the day. Everyone is tired and exhausted. We need to remember what brought us into the ASC. We need to find new ways of providing great customer service and providing the caring experience that patients expect and need. We need a renewed passion and commitment to all of our customers: physicians, staff and patients.