Andrie Leday joined DePuy Synthes, Johnson and Johnson's orthopedic company, as its vice president of the ASC division in August, following 12 years at Medtronic.
Mr. Leday joined the company with a rich knowledge of the expanding U.S. ASC market and goals for improving DePuy's ASC outreach.
"There are several reasons why ASCs are so important in healthcare right now. One, baby boomers are not lying down in retirement. Many of them are still working each and every day.
"Two, virtual employees and home caretakers have even less time to spend at hospitals given daily demands," Mr. Leday told Becker's.
"Three, many patients are still avoiding inpatient care since the emergence of COVID-19. Coming out of COVID, healthcare facilities are grappling with newer cost challenges, and we're helping ASCs find efficiencies in and out of the operating room that deliver really strong clinical value and align appropriately to their unique imbursement needs."
"My goal for DePuy Synthes as an organization is to treat ASCs like they treat their patients," he said. "That's with speed, agility, confidence and focus. Their satisfaction and their patients are at the center of everything we do."
And being under the umbrella of Johnson and Johnson gives DePuy a legacy of brand recognition, and makes it a trusted player in the ASC space, Mr. Leday said.
"If you look at our 150 years of history for J&J, just the strategic mindset to meet the needs across the world of healthcare, we have strategically brought together leaders across multiple disciplines and specialties to do just that," he said. "I think we provide a very unique partnership platform that is honestly undeniable for inpatient and outpatient care. We're building an innovation pipeline of solutions that expands across several specialties, including joint replacements, reconstruction, sports medicine, trauma and extremities, that not only address the pressing needs of surgeons today but the trends of tomorrow as well."
DePuy Synthes recently debuted its Velys Robotic-Assisted Solution for joint replacements. Its minimally invasive usage has made it especially popular in the ASC setting, Mr. Leday said.
"One best kept secret that is now out is our Velys robotic platform system. One of the unique things we found for Velys this year, it was in extremely high demand in the ASC setting, more than we even forecasted. It's a scanless robotic platform and system, which is also ideal for the ASC setting," he said.
DePuy has also released a case management system that is gaining popularity in the ASC space that allows surgeons to personalize DePuy Synthes' products for each patient.
"My friends in the ASC setting are telling me they need us to provide them with customized solutions that help to streamline their surgical experience and help them lower the cost of surgeries in the ASC and manage the increased responsibility and risk that's in line with the rapidly evolving needs of surgeon entrepreneurs and ASC administrators" Mr. Leday said. "If we're helping them to make their practices move smoothly, it's easier on their staff, more cost effective, which of course supports their bottom line and patient satisfaction."
And in an ever changing medical landscape, as ASCs are fighting to stay ahead of the curve and increase capacities to draw patients from inpatient hospitals, Mr. Leday believes that ASCs have to be innovative and different to stand out from their competitors.
"If you look at the curve and the fact that the volume within ASCs is going to continue to grow, the number of ASCs that open their doors continue to grow, it's really just to streamline that workflow and really deliver that economic value that allows them to manage risk while driving profits," he said. "And leveraging technology to meet the ever-growing patient demand. Status quo is not enough. Repacking solutions delivered at the hospital or inpatient level is not enough. We need to be agile and help them customize to their unique needs in order to forge forward."