Engaging with suppliers in a competitive bidding process, taking a multilevel approach to saving on costs and investing in staff members are three of the methods that leaders are taking at surgery centers to curb rising costs.
These three ASC leaders recently connected with Becker’s to share how their organization is dealing with rising costs and inflation.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What strategies are you employing at your ASC/organization to keep up with rising costs?
Phyllis Norton. Administrator of Central New York Eye Center (Poughkeepsie): We recently engaged in a competitive bidding process with our key suppliers. We individually met with their representatives, highlighting our new ownership and expansion plans that would result in larger supply orders. This strategic approach led to a significant drop in prices, which further decreased when we revealed the competitive offers from other companies.
Pamela Silva. President and CEO of Grand Valley Surgical Center (Grand Rapids, Mich.): It really takes multiple approaches to address rising costs, including also looking at the revenue side. We are taking a multiple prong approach.
First is the cost of supplies. We are working with our suppliers like McKesson, Cardinal and Medline to push for transparency on markups and looking for reductions in percent markup we are charged. With Vendors like Arthrex and Stryker we are targeting high volume items and pushing for lower cost. We have been engaging vendors to give us bulk purchase discounts on high ticket items to lower the cost.
Second is the controllables. These are things we and staff have direct control or influence over. Managing staff over time by constantly looking at recruitment needs as our volume continues to increase and staying ahead of recruitment. We put a lot of effort on retention as it costs a lot less to retain good employees than it does to recruit, hire and train someone new. We see our employees as our most valuable asset. We are also watching our expired and low-moving items very closely. When something is slow moving or getting close to the expiration date we are proactively working with our reps and other centers to see what we can do to swap out items. Staff are not opening items in the OR until the surgeon is specifically asking. At time of scheduling we look at reimbursement and cost to be sure the case cost is going to be covered.
Additionally, how do we address the revenue side? First is AR. Pre-collection process standards pushed out to 15 days letter mailed and 10 days prior to phone call addressing any concerns about prepayment of copayment/deductibles/coinsurance at that time. We also focus on posting accurately and holding payors to the contract and then stay on top of the AR with phone call after phone call if need be. Number two is contracting. We actively worked to get out of all contracts for work comp that were lower than the State WC fee schedule.
Finally, communication and collaboration. We work hard to communicate with surgeons on cost of supplies and reimbursement. We do the same with our reps. By being direct and open about costs it helps us to collaborate to find a solution that works for all. These rising costs are going to continue. As leaders we need to get outside the box and look at every opportunity no matter how small and remember working together means winning together. That means leadership, staff, surgeons, anesthesia, suppliers and reps. We are one team with one goal of providing cost effective, high quality, high touch service to the patients we serve.
Meredith Warf, DPT. Regional CEO of U.S. Orthopedic Partners (Alpharetta, Ga.): One primary source of rising costs is staffing. At our high-volume orthopedic and spine only ASC, we must recruit and train the best of the best skillsets in RNs, surgical techs and X-ray techs. We are focusing on staff retention by prioritizing culture, daily management of shifts depending on volumes and types of cases on the schedule as well as cross training in peri-operative areas and procedure rooms. By strategically investing in staff engagement, we are striving to keep our highly skilled and experienced teams as No. 1 priority for delivering superior patient care.
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