Jim Stilley is CEO of Northwest Michigan Surgery Center in Traverse City, Mich., a joint venture between 36 physicians and Munson Medical Center. It is a large ASC, with six ORs, four procedure rooms and 120 employees working in 14 specialties. Mr. Stilley, also president of the Michigan Ambulatory Surgery Association, suggests five things large ASCs can do to remain competitive.
1. Train supervisors to become managers. At large ASCs, supervisors can have a chance to become managers. While a supervisor makes sure employees come in on time and do their jobs, a manager thinks about the big picture. "You need a different mindset to be a manager," Mr. Stilley says. A manager needs to make sure employees are matched to their abilities, run their area as efficiently as possible and ensure the highest standards of quality care.
2. Keep employees flexible. While large centers can allow employees to be contemplative about their work, they should never forget the reason why ASCs are so efficient. It's because employees are flexible. "In large ASCs, there's a tendency to 'stovepipe,'" Mr. Stilley says. "You can begin to think, 'I'm a quality manager creating policies and that's all I do. But when volume is down, you need to be able to quickly turn around and take up the OR circulator role." It's something employees at small ASCs have to do as a matter of course.
3. Don't live beyond your means. Because of its size, a larger organization has more wiggle room. It could allow accounts receivable to run out a little longer, let inventory build up and provide more variance in the balance sheet. But this is never a good idea. "It's a slippery slope you don't want to go down," Mr. Stilley says.
4. Invest in training and education of staff. Larger ASCs have the luxury of giving employees time to learn a new skill while someone else fills in for them. This should be taken advantage of. "Too often, even large centers skimp on training," Mr. Stilley says, "but it's absolutely essential." This can mean sending employees to an outside course or assigning another employee to cross-train them in another service.
5. Take big chances. Executives at big ASCs have the opportunity to make big decisions, such as buying expensive capital equipment on the assurance that a physician will use it and bring additional cases. Scary as this may be, never avoid making big decisions. "You have to make these business decisions or you will fall behind," Mr. Stilley says. His center went from 900 to 1,500 cases a month partly by making such investments. On the other hand, "you have to know when to walk away from a large investment that would not be an appropriate return on investment."
Learn more about Northwest Michigan Surgery Center.
Read more ideas to improve profitability:
- 5 Essential Steps to Turning Around a Struggling ASC
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- 6 Simple but Effective Ways to Increase Your ASC's Profitability