Janet L. Carlson

Another thing I'm watching is the increased migration of higher acuity cases into the ASC space.

Obviously, we know that Total Joint started doing this

gosh, 20 years ago, and then spine followed next.

And now the hot thing in the newest space for ASC service lines is cardiovascular, peripheral vascular, and interventional radiology.

So I'm following those trends as well.

Surgery centers are also investing in equipment like a DaVinci robot so that they could offer some of the

higher acuity, minimally invasive, very precise surgeries that are traditionally done in the hospital and now moving those to a very concierge setting, very boutique type experience, bespoke experience for the patient to the ASC space and get to go home on the same day.

The other thing that I'm following are obviously payer trends, contract negotiations,

for compensation for care provided to our patients and our ASCs and the revenue cycle management process that follows with it.

So making sure that we're billing and coding correctly up front.

Again, another plug for AI where you could start working the claim the minute that the case is booked on your surgical schedule.

And then be ready on the back end if you needed to assist arbitration

and looking for the payment for that claim.

Providers should be paid for the work and the care that they take care of these patients.

And so making sure that you're getting paid for the actual services that you've done is key to your bottom line.

I'm just excited about the growing awareness overall in our country for what is an ASC.

I think one of the silver linings of COVID was that many people learned overnight that there are 6,000 smaller independent hospital-like structures that are like a little engine that could, that were self-contained and that

we were able to decompress the big hospitals during COVID.

And I think that that has been a really great opportunity for people to recognize the increasing capacity that we have in ASCs to take care of more complex higher acuity cases.

So I'm excited about that continual migration away from the hospital.