Q: What is The OSC / YOA approach to delivering more specialized care and surgeries in outpatient/ASC settings? Has it changed since you launched?

A: The Orthopaedic Surgery Center of Youngstown just celebrated 20 years. And, YOA, physician-owners of the center, have been serving the region for 50-plus years. We’re very proud of the deep roots and personal involvement we have in the communities we serve.

Over the years, we have really focused on the growth of our orthopaedic service line — specifically, recruitment of fellowship-trained, hand, total joint, interventional pain and spine sub-specialists. Simultaneously, innovation in our delivery of orthopaedic care has always been a priority, exemplified by an outpatient total joint program supported by robotic technology — and more recently an outpatient spine program — that are part of our offering.

Our current approach came to life about 10 years ago when we elevated our vision and strategy from being a convenient place for physicians to perform outpatient surgery to focusing on delivering the most innovative, high-quality, low-cost specialty healthcare – with a state-of-the-art ASC as the primary access point for orthopaedic surgery.

Q: What are some factors contributing to the surge in demand for ASC services?

A: Costs are on the rise and health systems are constantly shifting to become lean to increase margins. ASCs have an advantage on this front, as ASCs have always had to be positioned to operate this way.

Recent studies suggest outpatient ASC total joints and spine cases can cost up to 40% less than hospital-based procedures, while delivering equally quality outcomes and lower infection rates – all while approved ASC procedures continues to rise.

Through creative relationships with industry partners, ASCs now have access to technological advances in anesthesia, pain control techniques and innovative equipment such as robotics that were once primarily available in major health systems.  Access to state-of-the-art tools and technology allows ASCs to consistently drive efficiency and create value propositions that keep them competitive in the market.

Patients also play a pivotal role. With individuals being asked to shoulder more of the financial responsibility for their medical care, they are increasingly turning to surgery centers for help.

This is an exciting time in the ambulatory surgery market, with the surging demand for ASC services and procedures from both the patient and payor sides. And, while there may be a perception that the market favors larger facilities, there is a path for private and independent ASCs to be competitive and thrive in this marketplace as well.

Q: Are there operational insights that can help ASCs thrive?

A:  Data analytics will show opportunities to cut costs and become more efficient. There is a certain amount of waste in healthcare operations that can be avoided by tracking and analyzing certain data collected by ASCs. The key is to find and use the correct information to produce outputs to grow margins.

Data is the great leveler in cost and profit conversations. ASCs that leverage their operational data to inform the cost of delivering a specific procedure – along with  the associated costs of acquiring and maintaining the necessary tools, equipment, and staff — negotiate rates and reimbursements from a position of strength.

Our goal is always to leverage data with buying power and relationships to obtain the best costs. And this is where our partnership with Medline comes into play.

Our relationship with Medline began with our custom packs and has evolved to more of a total distribution model. Our partnership goal is relatively the same except now with more detail and focus — truly using Medline’s tools to evaluate our supply chain paths, consistently evaluating contracts and opportunities to save, and becoming more efficient.

We’ll continue to focus on analytics and innovation together, using analytics to evaluate cost opportunities and trends crucial to maintaining margins.