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00:00:01
Bruce Johnstone – Expanding Your ASC: Adding an OR
79 Plays3 months ago
Today is part two of a three-part podcast series on Expanding Your ASC. As we learned in the last episode, expansion will look different for every surgery center. However, whether adding physicians, introducing a new specialty, opening another OR, or growing your team, having a growth mindset is essential for your surgery center's longevity. So today, we are sitting down with Bruce Johnstone, a Principal at Apex, and he's sharing great advice on how you can successfully add a new OR to your facility.
After my conversation with Bruce, we'll switch to our Data & Insights segment. Last September, HST released a State of the Industry Report with 45 chapters of best practices, 125+ KPIs for ASCs to track, and free benchmarking data for 15 key metrics. We are currently working on a 2024 version, so in honor of being two months out from our publish date, I want to share with you four of the key metrics we published last year and talk through how to improve them.
Dive deeper into the KPIs:
Average Net Revenue Per Specialty
Patient Deposit Collection Rates
2023 State of the Industry Report
Brought to you by HST Pathways.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to This Week in Surgery Centers. If you're in the ASC industry, then you're in the right place. Every week, we'll start the episode off by sharing an interesting conversation we had with our featured guests, and then we'll close the episode by recapping the latest news impacting surgery centers. We're excited to share with you what we have, so let's get started and see what the industry's been up to.
00:00:27
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Here's what you can expect on today's episode.
Series on Expanding ASCs
00:00:31
Speaker
Today is part two of our three-part podcast series all about expanding your ASC. As we learned last episode, expansion will look different for every surgery center, but whether you're adding new physicians, introducing a new specialty, ah opening another, or just growing your team, having that growth mindset is essential for your surgery center's longevity.
Interview with Bruce Johnstone on Adding ORs
00:00:54
Speaker
Today, we are sitting down with Bruce Johnstone, who is a principal at Apex, and he's sharing great advice on how you can successfully add a new OR to your facility.
00:01:05
Speaker
After my conversation with Bruce, we will switch to our data and insights segment. Last September, HST released a state of the industry report that had 45 chapters of best practices, 125 plus KPIs for ASCs to track and free benchmarking data for 15 key metrics. So we are actually in the process of redoing that 2023 report for 2024. And in the process of doing so, I've been re-inspired by all the metrics that we're reviewing. So in honor of it being two months out from our published date, I wanted to share with you four of the key metrics that we published last year and talk through how you can improve on them. Hope everyone enjoys the episode and here's what's going on this week in Surgery Centers.
00:01:55
Speaker
Bruce, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Glad to be here. Can you please share a little bit more about yourself? Yeah, sure. Happy to. As for myself, one of the principals here at Apex, we are a healthcare specific design and construction firm working across the country in the healthcare care space, private healthcare, care which means we get involved in a lot of surgery centers, specialty clinics, imaging centers, really anything that survives and thrives in the private healthcare care environment. And our team is set up to help clients from start to finish and all the planning phases of projects through to architectural permitting and delivery of construction. So as a firm, that's our position in the market based in Chicago. And like I say, work across the country. That is our story in a nutshell.
00:02:42
Speaker
Very cool. And I'm excited to have you on because we are in the middle of our ah series about expanding ASCs. So we've talked about how to add a physician, how to add certain specialties, but with your expertise, we will be talking about how to add in an operating room to your existing surgery center. So absolutely let's get right into it. How can an ASC kind of assess the demand and need for an additional OR?
Assessing the Need for More ORs
00:03:11
Speaker
It's a good one. This question comes up frequently, as you can imagine. The thing we're always wanting to do is consider all options and to make sure that we're really analyzing what's involved when we're making that consideration of an additional OR. To begin with, what I'd like to say is collect data and analyze it. and We want to make sure that we're really informed on the current OR utilization rates. What's our current position? So we feel like we need more OR space, but how well are we utilizing what we have today?
00:03:41
Speaker
Typically, just for reference sake, anything above 80%, 85% utilization rate on an OR is pretty high. So if you are already have exceeded that, yeah, you might be in a position where look, we need to look for ways to accomplish additional OR space. Something that factors into that is the turnover times of the OR of course, how much time between cases, longer the time that there is might indicate some inefficiencies. that need to be addressed as opposed to additional OR space. Maybe there's some inefficiencies that are slowing down your turnover time between cases. Of course, case volume comes into play here. So looking at historical case volumes, growth trends, are there increasing case volumes that are suggesting a rising demand? Is that what's driving this? So just collect all data you possibly can on how your current
00:04:34
Speaker
ORs are being utilized, assess it carefully, look at scheduling bottlenecks that can often be a big one and try to just understand whether there's consistent delays and an inability to accommodate new cases. Again, these all might be signals for the need for expansion. So that's one area is the, the data and analyzing it.
Considerations for OR Expansion
00:04:55
Speaker
Another point to be made is the market, market around us analyze the market. So. population demographics, is there an aging population that's driving demand? or Are we seeing that as being caused for this sense that we need additional OR space? Maybe it's service line related, perhaps there's additional specialties or services that are driving growth that's creating that demand for ORs.
00:05:19
Speaker
Of course, always good to analyze your competition, not to get obsessed with it. But look, hospital systems neighboring, other private ASCs neighboring, what's their volume? What are they dealing with? So really, I think to begin with, it's always good to look at the data, look at the market, analyze it. Once we've done that, let's gather as much ah input from all stakeholders as we can. So surgeons always have feedback. Let's gather input from the surgeons at the ASC. regarding their needs, what they perceive as necessary for current capacity and and bottlenecks. Staff, of course, working in the center, following nursing administrative staff, et cetera, include them in discussions about workflow and capacity issues. They've always got boots in the ground sort of input. and Another one that can be very insightful is patient feedback. So consider ways to engage them in the survey process, what's their experience and any frustration with
00:06:16
Speaker
scheduling delays that might not be as insightful as poor surgeon and staff input, but it can't hurt. Those are the first frontline things that come to mind. There's other areas operationally to consider what's the case lengths. Are there peak times of our use cancellations and delays? Are those creating sort of issues? But beyond that, once we have a really good framework of what we can get our arms around on the data. Then it's ah a good time to run the cost benefit analysis. Let's let the numbers do the talking and conduct that financial analysis to look at the costs versus of adding an OR versus the potential revenue and increased case volume that will be obtained that way. And just make sure we understand where breakeven is and where we're starting to pull ahead with adding that OR. Lastly,
00:07:08
Speaker
near and dear to our hearts is the facility and the capability for the facility itself to even accommodate an additional OR that needs to be considered infrastructure wise. ah There's a lot of demand for HVAC and electrical power and plumbing to support a new ah OR. So how well can we accommodate that? So once we go through all the analysis of data, like I say, and and prove out that it makes sense, then yes, let's run it through financial and facility analysis as well. What I can really just summarize is, look, make sure that you are as informed about the decision as you possibly can be so that you truly are justifying the need for an OR as opposed to just feeling a pinch and saying, look, the quick fix is another OR because it may not be the case.
00:07:54
Speaker
truly be sure that it's gone through all the paces of validating that a new OR is the solution to the pinch that you're feeling. yeah Those are some thoughts when assessing ah the demand you need for additional OR space.
Cost Analysis of OR Expansion
00:08:06
Speaker
Sure. Yeah, that is all amazing advice. That could have been the whole episode right there. Thank you. so Can you also discuss the typical costs involved in expanding with a new OR? I'm sure we could do a whole 30 minutes just on that. Yeah. Yeah, we sure could. yeah Yeah. The costs are so dependent on so many different things. So we get asked this question all the time, as you can imagine, what should I expect to pay? What's my investment? Want to make sure I'm getting a solid return on my investment. And yes, it's necessary. But I guess for the sake of this conversation, let's try to at least identify what the core
00:08:44
Speaker
categories are. Let's try to break it down by category and try to give you some steer on it at least. Of course, the first one being the construction renovation costs. It's usually to the between that and the equipment. Those are the two biggest areas. So as far as the construction and renovation, we have all your planning services. So design, architecture fees that could range into 10 to $50,000 range. You have construction. Look, if you're adding One OR, typically for an OR you've got 500 square feet. Let's say on average, it might be 400 to 600, let's call it 500. There's cost per square foot metrics that go around the industry on this. It's really difficult to pin it down to a cost per square foot when all you're doing is adding one OR as opposed to building like a whole new facility where costs spread across that square footage. But we could carry a range from 200 to 500
00:09:36
Speaker
dollars per square foot perhaps in the construction. There's always HVAC utility related work scope that needs to be done. When we move over to the equipment cost side of things, again, a big range because what type of center is this? Is there going to be a lot of imaging? Is it just basic surgical equipment or is there additional costs for imaging and that sort of thing, integration of technology? I guess really just to look at the lump sum at the end of the day, because we could go through all of the costs of operational and technology. And even a lot of times there's regulatory and compliance costs that need to be factored in and so on. But for a single OR expansion, the total range could be in the $502 million dollar range for an additional OR with the lying share of that being the construction and equipment. I think some of the things are often overlooked and in forecasting the cost of a new OR.
00:10:33
Speaker
is the operational costs and technology related items. Because look, if you're going to add another OR, what about staffing? What about training? What about the supplies, the startup costs for an additional OR in that sense might always not be calculated accurately. And then some soft costs on IT t software that can be in the tens of thousands of dollars as well. I think. as a general range, if we use that $502 million to capture sort of everything, not just our scope, not just the architectural design and construction scope, but really.
00:11:06
Speaker
Everything across the the gamut of expansion is a pretty good range to carry. And then I guess the advice there is just ensure that you're engaging experts to help in the planning. Pre-planning is your friend. It's critical. Make sure that you've got really good advice and and accurate input on how well this can be done and what the costs are done and going to be and what's included for the scope. So roundabout answered to your question, but that's some thoughts. now Yeah, no, it's a loaded question and it's, I mean, your range is perfect because it's impossible to say what the cost might be for one facility versus another. There's so many variables, but you did mention regulatory and compliance. And I'd like to go back to that for a
Regulatory Considerations
00:11:47
Speaker
second. Are there any issues there that ASC should be aware of?
00:11:52
Speaker
Yeah, this is a tripping point oftentimes because the thought can be that, look, if I'm licensed with the state, I should be good to go. But we can't forget that there's really federal as well as state regulations being in compliance. So maybe if we just go through what. typically the federal versus state versus accreditations, what those things can look like. To start with, we need that Medicare certification. We we have to be certified by CMS to be ah an ASC that's seeing cases and getting reimbursed. Otherwise coverage for Medicare just won't be there.
00:12:27
Speaker
And there's some other things from a federal standpoint as well, of course, HIPAA and OSHA for patient care, patient protection, OSHA standards for safety. But really it's just, I want to emphasize the need to be ah aware of CMS. It's not only state, it's also CMS. We've had, it we've seen centers before where the expansion is done or the facility is built and they just have left the the CMS part of it until the end. And now you're just, there's the time caucus ticking and you're Missed revenue can be in the millions of dollars per per month even, but not having the center open. So be aware of the federal, the application process for CMS. When it comes to state, most states require ASC to be licensed. So the state health departments have their regulations.
00:13:13
Speaker
which we need to make sure that we're covered there and get licensed. But the license licensure can vary state to state. Some have the certificate of need process that needs to be adhered to. And that can be a lengthy, complicated process, depending on whether this is a specialty-specific center or multi-specialty. It can be challenging to get licensure in CUN states if competition is high. in that given area. So that can be another tripping point. Of course, there's legal advice and consultants to be engaged to navigate that process, but just to be aware that that it exists. And then the accreditation piece as well, there's accrediting organizations, Triple H, C, or Quad A, depending on what the center is. It's not always mandatory, but sometimes it is.
00:13:56
Speaker
those Qualcomm third-party accrediting bodies to be in compliance, understand what their what those organizations require and to be in compliance there. They have inspections and things of that nature that need to be conducted and can be rigorous. So be aware of what's needed for your pair mix. A couple of other things maybe to mention that outside of just licensure and accreditation is also compliance on billing and coding compliance. outside of our area of expertise, but certainly can become a tripping point. Things like start law, anti-kickback statute, ASCs really need to ensure that they're adhering to those things to prevent conflicts of interest can become very costly from a standpoint of perhaps legal issues that might come up as a result of that. Lastly, there's always HR credentialing needs for clinical
00:14:51
Speaker
staff, making sure that they're properly credentialed so that reimbursements are not an issue later on. I guess the similar to the previous topic that we were chatting about, staying informed is always the key on these things and be proactive about understanding what regulatory compliance things apply to your center because it's not a not a standard thing across all centers. It does depend on what state you're in, what specialty you're in, those sorts of things. Stay informed, be mindful of regular audits, get in front of them, be prepared for them. get the legal advice, consulting advice. That is always a way to stay out of trouble. Yes, I agree. Perfect. Let's do some
Designing Efficient ORs
00:15:30
Speaker
of the fun stuff. What are the best practices for designing an efficient OR?
00:15:36
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I guess to start with first and foremost, the efficiencies. We want to talk about workflow efficiencies. The OR size is always a point of topic, or a topic of sometimes contention between what staff versus surgeons versus administrators might all have opinions on, but. Adequate size in the ah OR, ensuring that it's large enough to accommodate necessary equipment and personnel comfortably is critical for maximizing efficiencies. One thing that we find that as far as best practice that can be very beneficial is to create zones, so dividing the OR into functional zones for different you know activities.
00:16:19
Speaker
whether they're sterile zone, anesthesia zone, equipment zone, et cetera, but really just help streamline that workflow, contempt reduce the risk of contamination as well, but streamlining workflow within the OR, and then beyond that, within the OR suite. So traffic flow, we talked about this extensively, our team does with clients. Understanding what the pathways are for staff and for patients, how equipment moves to this base to minimize cross traffic, again, preventing contamination, but just, it's crucial to identify what that looks like within the OR suite and then within the OR itself. The technology integration.
00:16:58
Speaker
is another critical one because, and this is again applies to within the OR as well as within other you work zones in the suite, but incorporating advanced technology, advanced imaging and display technology, monitors, imaging equipment, things of that nature, that you're getting that as best of visual visualizations as you can during procedures is going to benefit the workflow without doubt. Automation can be your friend. So having things automated for lighting, temperature control, equipment management, just streamlining those operations. So you don't have to think about it. So it comes just naturally. It comes, it's automated. It comes naturally without thinking about it. It's already set and in, in STEM. Equipment management is a big one. Having adequate storage, ample storage for both equipment and supplies within the OR. Avoid that clutter.
00:17:51
Speaker
sure everything is easily accessible, communication systems. We see ORs that work very well with paging systems, help facilitate communication among OR staff and other departments within the facility, knowing where patients are up to, pre and post-op, and those sorts of things. Lastly, we're always trying to future-proof as much as we possibly can, design with future in mind, future expansion in mind. what sort of infrastructures we needed for whatever new equipment or technologies might be brought in at a later date. That's just simple best practice, trying to think ahead, not just design for today, design for tomorrow. So I think really what we're trying to accomplish at the end of the day is efficient, functional, start on the workflow side of things. And then of course, ensure that it's safe and conducive to high quality patient care.
00:18:39
Speaker
regularly involving surgical team in that design process can really help that part of it to make sure that we're not overlooking something that's just patient care related going to be a detriment. So yeah, gotta be practical, gotta be functional and gotta provide the best tools we can for patient care. Perfect. So for existing ASCs who want to add an ah add the OR, they've done all their due diligence. They know they're going to do it.
Managing Construction & Operations
00:19:02
Speaker
How can they manage the construction process to minimize disruptions to their existing operations? Do they typically close while construction is going on? Is there a way to remain open?
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah, great question. I guess a lot of this just hinges on how well preplanning again and communication amongst all stakeholders is conducted, but whether it needs to be shut down or can be done while not being operational is so facility dependent. We've done a lot of studies or feasibility studies on centers before where the A phasing plan is obviously reasonable and feasible to keep the facility running. In other words, where it's just not, you just can't keep the center running safely. Construction and surgery just don't go too well together. So unless we can create clearly defined zones, it may not work effectively. So how we arrive at that is the question here. We want to make sure that things are done in a coordinated way, otherwise it can become extremely stressful for everyone involved. So to start with,
00:20:05
Speaker
detailed planning, we want to include both a pre-construction sort of application to it as well as designs. It's not only, hey, it fits. Here's a layout. Here's a design. We can draw it up, but also pre-construction, meaning what's going to happen at each phase of the construction process when we're removing walls, constructing walls, and we're bringing in mechanicals when we're working overhead within the space. Is it separate? Can it be done in a fashion that's separate from current operations or not? And sometimes what we find is that there's a staged shutdown where we might need to shut down at certain stages of the construction process where for a few days, a week, and whatever it might be, at a critical stage of construction, we need to shut down.
00:20:48
Speaker
So just exhaustively going through a detailed plan of both design and pre-construction to identify all areas of risk, all areas of disruption, and can we mitigate them, is the is a general intent there. But what I want to emphasize is stakeholder communication, having regular meetings, assuming that a plan can be developed for expanding an OR in an existing facility, Holding regular meetings throughout the duration of it with staff, contractor team, administration, you name it. Discuss progress, you progress discuss concerns, discuss upcoming ah milestones and what it might involve for the center and everyone know that's there on site is really important. um And defining what those communication channels are going to be so that everyone is clearly informed along the way. Sometimes what's needed is temporary solutions, maybe a temporary facility where
00:21:42
Speaker
You're relocating certain functions, not surgically, of course, but maybe administratively if it can be, or at least defining alternative routes for pathways within the space for patients and staff. So coming up with temporary solutions is usually part of that phasing plan. Safety and compliance is a non-negotiable. So we have to make sure that we've been able to maintain a safe environment. The other thing that sometimes is overlooked is patient communication to overcome disruption, everyone just needs to be informed, including the patient. The patient's scheduled for surgery during construction phase, even if you might have a plan that you feel like it's pretty bulletproof, make sure the patient knows that, look, there could be disruption, just to help minimize anxiety so that they don't show up and discover that there's construction going on and and just add to that anxiety that's already there.
00:22:30
Speaker
um Always good to have contingency plans. Just think of all of the, we create risk registers. So what are all of the items that are at risk at any given point during this process? And let's make sure that we have contingency plans for them. At the end of the day, the better the plan, the better the process, the better the finished product. So that's just be sure to think it through from all fronts. So there's minimal disruption, minimal stress. That's some thoughts. yeah There's lots of tips and tricks, but that's some initial thoughts anyway.
00:23:01
Speaker
That is excellent advice. All right. Last question, Bruce. We do this every week with our guests. What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?
00:23:14
Speaker
Yeah, I guess we've been talking about workflows and that sort of thing, best in practice, design, et cetera. I guess the think I'd encourage physicians and surgery center administrators to to do is carefully examine all existing workflows. Staff, patients, identify potential bottlenecks that exist in daily movement throughout the facility. might be placement of equipment, storage equipment, might be location of supply storage, might be lack of adequate signage, so wayfinding might be a challenge, but conduct a thorough assessment and document any bottlenecks. Anything that pops up as a potential bottleneck, and what that'll do is it'll create an opportunity for immediate improvement. You'll come away with, ideally, you'll come away with a short list of things that look
00:24:06
Speaker
they could be accumulating to workflow inefficiencies. So if we just address these items, it's a very simple sort of task that can be assigned to administrators to go through and yeah just create a more efficient and organized environment, reduce stress for staff, minimize delays. Really at the end of the day, we're looking to improve that overall overall patient experience. So it should contribute to that. So that is one thing that but you all can take away and and hopefully improve without too much burden on your team. Love it. Thank you so much for all the tips and thanks for coming on today. Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Data & Insights on ASC Metrics
00:24:46
Speaker
Welcome to Data and Insights, where we turn data into dialogue and numbers into narrative. HSC Pathways released a state of the industry report late last year highlighting best practices, key process steps, and KPIs for every step of the patient journey and for nearly every recurring administrative duty. Most importantly, using our own unique dataset from our clients, We were able to extract data points so that anyone in the industry could compare themselves to their peers. A few quick disclaimers, we only pulled data from clients who gave us permission, and that was around 450 ASCs, and then we omitted any extreme outliers.
00:25:24
Speaker
And in honor of the 2024 report coming out in just two short months, today I want to share with you a few data points from the 2023 report that I thought were most interesting. So for all four of the metrics, I'll follow the same format, I'll share the data, the impact it has on your bottom line, and three tips to improve. The first metric I want to look at is unused OR block time. Our data analysts determine that on average, 42% of blocked OR time actually ends up going unused.
00:25:57
Speaker
This is a critical data point to monitor because unused OR time represents a direct loss of potential revenue as fewer procedures are performed and fixed costs such as staffing and utilities remain the same, ultimately leading to lower profitability. If you would like to improve your blocked OR time utilization rates, I would recommend three things. One, create policies that allow for the reallocation of unused OR time to other surgeons and have all your surgeons sign this policy. A few weeks ago, we published an episode with Amy Ishmael on how to maximize OR utilization through block time best practices, and she gave amazing insights as to what that policy could look like and things like that. If you haven't created a policy or even if you have, I would highly recommend that episode.
00:26:46
Speaker
Anyway, that was only tip one, to create the policies. Two, offer incentives to physicians to maximize their allocated OR time. And then three, share publicly in the break room or in board meetings, which physicians are performing the best in terms of blocked OR time utilization.
00:27:06
Speaker
The second metric is revenue per case. So here are the top three specialties bringing in the most revenue per
Revenue Strategies for ASCs
00:27:14
Speaker
case. The first is ortho, which averages $5,449 per case. The second is cardio, which averages $4,355 per case. And the third is plastics, which averages $3,732 per case. Now we actually in the full report did the top 12. So if you want to see more than just the top three, check out the full state of the industry report. I'll include a link in the episode notes. But anyway, this data point is extremely important to track, understand and benchmark against.
00:27:49
Speaker
It can be leveraged during negotiations with payers, incorporated into performance reviews, used to project future revenue, and also used to drive your surgery center's growth strategy. And after analyzing your own data and identifying your top three revenue generating specialties, or maybe even if you are single specialty, you can do it by your top three revenue generating procedures and go at it from that way too. But I would recommend obviously prioritizing the recruitment and retention of physicians um who provide procedures in those high revenue specialties.
00:28:27
Speaker
Then you can adjust the case mix to include a higher proportion of those specific specialties, of course, without compromising on quality or putting about taste in any of the other physicians' mouths who might not do that specialty, but adjusting the case mix could help. And then lastly, invest in targeted marketing to attract more patients for those high revenue procedures. The third metric I want to talk about is patient deposit collection rates. So a typical ASC only collects 53% of expected patient deposits at the time of service.
00:29:02
Speaker
Now, effective deposit collection is a critical component of the revenue cycle. The more you can collect upfront, the more you can reduce your outstanding balances, minimize bad debt, reduce the amount of time you have to spend on the backend following up with patients, and also minimize the number of patients you have to send to collections. If you are looking to collect more upfront, and let's be real, I think everybody is, here are three ideas to improve. The first is to implement pre-service financial counseling to ensure patients understand their financial responsibility. So this could be something that you do in-house. It could be something that you outsource. But either way, you have to be completely transparent with patients. um That's just going to build that trust. And if they trust you, then they're more likely to pay you.
00:29:51
Speaker
The second is to use automated systems to generate accurate patient financial estimates that include a simple pay now button where patients can immediately pay online in the comfort of their own home and the convenience of having their wallet and their credit card right
Optimizing Billing and Cash Flow
00:30:06
Speaker
there. You really want to make it as simple for them as possible. And the third is to establish and communicate clear payment policies, including how important deposits are before the date of service. And as a rule of thumb, a patient should never hear what they owe for the first time when they walk in on the day of surgery. I trust none of you are doing that, but it just, the day of surgery is already stressful enough. And then to throw the financial element into it, which is already so confusing for patients, just will not help you with that patient deposit rate.
00:30:40
Speaker
And if this in general is something that you're looking to do, improve that upfront collection process, HSC has some really cool tools that a bunch of ASCs use to help them do exactly that. All right, for our fourth and final metric, let's talk about billing post date of service. On average, ASCs are taking 3.6 days to bill after the patient's procedure is complete. So days to bill is a key indicator of the efficiency of the entire revenue cycle, as this number directly affects the speed at which the surgery center receives payments from payers. By keeping days to bill low, surgery centers can optimize cashflow and reduce the risk of delayed payments or any cashflow interruptions. It's also super important for compliance with regulatory requirements and maintaining a transparent and efficient billing process.
00:31:35
Speaker
Three tips to lower your days to bill would be, use an EHR and practice management system, ideally one that is integrated with the clearinghouse to just help streamline the process altogether. The second is to provide regular training for billing staff to ensure they are up to date with best practices. And the third is to conduct regular audits of the billing process to identify bottlenecks and any areas for improvement. So there you have it, four data points to benchmark your ASC against and 12 tips to improve.
Conclusion & Engagement
00:32:10
Speaker
If you're interested in more data points and use cases, subscribe to our podcast so that you don't miss any upcoming segments or head to the website to check out the full state of the industry report to get your hands on even more data and make sure you keep an eye out for the 2024 version, which should come out mid to late September this year.
00:32:31
Speaker
And that officially wraps up this week's podcast. Thank you as always for spending a few minutes of your week with us. Make sure to subscribe or leave a review on whichever platform you're listening from. I hope you have a great day and we will see you again next week.