Alignment of physician partners, creating a strong culture from the start and knowing your business operations are the keys to success for new ASCs in the expanding outpatient market.
Securing top talent can be challenging, but it is one of the most crucial elements in building an ASC that makes all parties happy.
A group of nine orthopedic surgeons recently opened Watkins Mill Ambulatory Surgery Center, a two-operating room facility in Gaithersburg, Md.
Christopher Raffo, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and founding president of the center, recently connected with Becker’s to talk about starting a new ASC from scratch, the importance of physician leadership and what ASCs need for success.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Why do you think now is the right time to open up this ASC, and why is it important that it is physician-led?
Dr. Christopher Raffo: A big part of a successful surgery center is the culture and being able to mold that from the get-go and choose the right people is important. Getting the right talent, both at the nursing level, the tech level and the administration level will make it so we can have a facility that runs really well and makes all the interested parties happy. So that’s the main reason for building a center from scratch.
As for the timing, almost everything that we do in orthopedics is moving outpatient. There’s no real reason not to continue to expand on the availability of those types of facilities for our physicians. The hospitals are too expensive, too inefficient and their goals are not necessarily aligned with ours. You can only control it if you own it. I think being physician-owned and physician-led is the best part about [The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics], and I think it’ll be the best part about this surgery center.
Q: What were some of the most challenging parts of getting the ASC off the ground?
CR: Access to capital was probably the most challenging. I thought that would be easier with CAO’s banking relationships, but just the lending environment in the United States right now is difficult. The next hardest part is working with the state because of the regulatory framework that has to get done. I don’t think Maryland is inefficient in that regard, that’s just the nature of the business. We’re going to do our first case literally any day, and then be off to the races from there.
Q: What will separate successful ASCs from those that might struggle over the next few years?
CR: Having good business operations is crucial. You need to know your market. You need to know how your insurance contracts work. You need to understand how the supply chain affects your bottom line. The other part is having your surgeon partners aligned. I’ve seen that be a huge thorn in the side at my previous center. Having the right people is really the secret sauce to success.
Watkins Mill Surgery Center is a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center located in Gaithersburg, Maryland serving Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The Center provides safe, cost effective and convenient patient care with a team committed to providing high quality care with comfort, dignity, and compassion. The Center is a state-licensed and Medicare-approved facility that maintains full-time board-certified anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists.
CONTACT:
Liam McCaffery
lmccaffery@briancom.com
908.956.1664