FEATURE
on a day we are normally closed? Yes. ‘Yes’ is the magic word.” If you can get physicians into your
ASC, keep them by doing what they want and need, Struthers says. “Phy- sicians want to be at the facility that streamlines their process; ensures quick turnover; provides the neces- sary equipment, along with reasonable bells and whistles; and keeps the day moving. You also need staff who make sure patients are ready on time, handle problems that develop and, while in the operating room, are working to meet their physicians’ needs.” Getting physicians to perform proce-
Becoming the Facility of Choice
Keep your physicians, staff and patients happy BY ROBERT KURTZ
A
s health care organizations con- tinue to compete for physicians,
staff and patients, ASCs need to make themselves the facility of choice or lose to other players in the field, says Kris Sabo, RN, executive director of Pend Oreille Surgery Center in Pon- deray, Idaho. “We need to be providing better customer service to our physi- cians, staff and patients than our com- petition or we could easily lose them all,” she says. For Rush SurgiCenter in Chicago, says Administrator Barbara
Illinois,
Struthers, RN, competition is just around the corner, including another ASC located just a few blocks away. “You are absolutely competing for physicians and staff. Without good physicians and staff, you are not going to have patients.” Pend Oreille Surgery Center faces competition from two rural critical
24 ASC FOCUS JUNE/JULY 2016
access hospitals, says Sabo, who is also the president-elect of the Idaho Ambu- latory Surgery Center Association. “If we let our guard down, we could lose providers and staff. That would ham- string us and not allow us to take care of as many patients. If we do not keep our volume up, we cannot keep our doors open, and that cuts out the opportunity for patients to have a choice of where to undergo procedures.” To help position themselves as the
facility of choice for physicians, staff and patients, ASCs can follow a num- ber of strategies.
For Physicians To keep physicians coming back to her ASC, Sabo says the goal is to say “yes” to requests as much as possible. “Phy- sicians want to hear ‘yes,’ especially if they hear ‘no’ at other facilities. Can I add on another case? Yes. Can I work
dures at your ASC might require you to take care of more than just physicians, says Darren Murphy, RN, staff nurse in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) of Baptist Plaza Surgicare in Nashville, Tennessee, an affiliate of United Surgi- cal Partners International (USPI). “What you need to do is make phy-
sicians’ office staff your best friends,” Murphy says. “They are often respon- sible for scheduling where patients— and, therefore, physicians—go for pro- cedures. Meet with office staff and find out if there is anything your ASC can do to make their jobs easier. A positive impact on office staff will have a posi- tive impact on volume.” Sabo says her ASC relies on its
physician owners to help bring unaf- filiated physicians to the ASC. “Our physician owners do a lot of network- ing with doctors in the community and invite them here. Once new physicians come here, it does not take them long to understand and love our care deliv- ery model.”
For Staff Staff, even more so than your phy- sicians, likely have many choices of where to work in your community. ASCs should focus on providing staff with what they want to eliminate any need to look elsewhere for employ- ment, says Murphy, who is also a pro-
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