PSS Attends Becker’s 24th Annual Business Operations of ASC Conference in Chicago, IL

Who doesn’t love a reason to visit the windy city in the fall? Chicago offers so many things to do, places to and great food all within walking distance. Beautiful architecture, friendly folks and fall foliage make getting 10,000 steps in a breeze!   Becker’s ASC has a wealth of information and ASC benchmarks we can all learn from. The conference kicked off with ESPN sports analyst Kirk Herbstreit from “College GameDay” as the opening speaker. Kirk’s story of playing college football with a dream of broadcasting was inspiring to everyone. Talented and successful, he landed his dream job on ESPN working alongside of his mentor Lee Corso. Kirk made me feel anything is possible!

Friday’s keynote speaker was Alexa Von Tobel who gave us all a lesson in saving money with tips and tricks on consolidating bank accounts, 401K plans and credit scores. Such a beautifully talented and well spoken woman that had the crowd rethinking “retirement years” and the possibility of living into the 100s.

Attorney Scott Becker and his team did a great job in running and hosting the conference. NBA legend Bill Walton and Scott Becker took the stage for the closing session on Saturday. Although the time went way over schedule, no one got up from their seats. Bill Walton was funny, engaging, motivating and so captivating even the attorney was rendered speechless.

It was nice seeing our clients: John Gray, Administrator at Jackson Surgery Center in Montgomery Alabama and Dr. Scott Schlesinger from Legacy Surgery Center Little Rock Arkansas. Dr. Schlesinger gave a very interesting talk on his latest inventions in lumbar fusion surgery. Both Jackson Surgery Center and Legacy Surgery Center are long term management clients of ours. We assist them with updated policies and procedures quarterly meeting agendas and minutes and overall compliance efforts.

Some of the session highlights and pearls included:

• Understanding payer “Benefit Design Plans” and what tier your ASC falls into (Tier 1, Tier 2,etc).
• Latest ASC reimbursement trends are seeing 30 to 40% of case reimbursement coming from patient’s pockets.
• If you are getting paid 100% of your fee schedule this can be a red flag your fee schedule is too low.
• Do your contracts contain verbiage that include “specialty networks” if not you can be missing out on lots of insured lives in your area.
• Improving the bottom line: Hold staff accountable for saving costs. Design bonus plan for staff based on savings plans, then pay staff % of all savings. Interview new recruits and explain your “cost containment culture”
• Buzz phrase “single source suppliers” came up in several sessions. The concept of having only one supplier reduces the amount of time spent researching products and negotiating prices with vendors. The additional benefit is the single source vendors are typically open to negotiations.

It was a great weekend getting to know some new colleagues and sharing ideas with Metro Health Surgery Center, Eos Plastic Surgery, and AGMG Endoscopy Center. Attending a conference like Becker’s ASC is a great way to recharge your batteries, hit the “reset” button on your goals and your attitude towards others.

If you have any questions about the conference or the session highlights, feel free to email Nancy at nstephen@pss4asc.com