As ASCs face mounting cost pressures and tighter margins, Compass Surgical Partners CEO Mark Langston is betting on real-time operational intelligence, something many operators still lack.
Rather than relying on retrospective financial reports, Mr. Langston told Becker’s that the future of ASC performance hinges on giving local leaders immediate visibility into the data that shapes daily decision-making.
Compass has taken a deliberate approach to building that capability. Instead of purchasing off-the-shelf technology, the company has invested in developing its own tools, working with third-party developers to build proprietary systems tailored to its facilities.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity.
Question: You’ve mentioned investing in efficient tech and tools. What type of tools are you looking toward?
Mark Langston: For the most part, we have created and continue to develop homegrown solutions — using third parties to build out our own IP and tech. It takes a bit longer to do it that way. Some people use off-the-shelf solutions, but in my experience, there are a lot of solutions out there, and very few of them are exactly right.
It takes a ton of work to hone in on what you need for your space and specialty and get it just right. At the end of the day, having technology on hand as the leader of a facility — and providing them with the data and insights to understand what they can do to affect what’s going on — from a scheduling perspective, and predictability around revenue and expense structure — that’s huge.
So much of the industry is based on what happened last month and last quarter. You can’t change that. That ship has sailed. It’s important to understand the past and understand the trends, but now what are you doing to move the curve?
What’s the real-time data right in front of me that I can effectuate today, tomorrow and prepare for next Friday or next week — being proactively involved and engaged in running your business. There’s not, that I’m aware of, a technology solution that delivers that in one single slot. So how do we cobble those together and put it in a single source for our people running the business?
Q: Could you give me one example of the type of real-time data you’re talking about?
ML: It’s about being able to look at the key components of a financial statement, but looking at it in advance. As we sit here today, I know what I’ve got on my books. I know the volume that’s on the books for the rest of this month — what I’ve done and what’s scheduled. I know what revenue will be generated, I know the supplies and costs. I know my staffing trends. I have a good idea of what I can do to move the needle. If volume is down, I need to manage the cost side so I can still deliver profitability.
It sounds like a crystal ball, and I guess it is to some extent, but it’s all knowable pieces. And as we deliver that and package it in a way where it is a digestible and easy to use daily management system, that helps our leaders think about today, tomorrow, next week and the rest of this month — and how the can affect the business, rather than just letting it happen and reading about it posthumously in an income statement.
