Four industry experts weigh in on their five tips for improving surgeon recruitment to a spine-driven ASC. 1. Identify surgeons with high volume outpatient procedures. The most important surgeons to target are those who have a high volume of potentially outpatient procedures such as arthroscopy, hand or foot surgery and discectomies. Some surgeons are performing anterior cervical decompressions and fusions in ASCs as well.
"I would look for orthopedic surgeons who have within their practices a significant percentage of surgeries that are appropriate for outpatient surgery centers," said John McConnell, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Greenville, Texas. "These surgeons tend to be typical candidates for surgical center staff as opposed to physicians whose practices involve total joint replacement or trauma surgeons who work in the hospital environment."
If the surgeons don't currently do outpatient procedures but are interested in the surgery center, offer to work with them to bring new procedures into the ASC. For example, surgeons can perform a percutaneous osteotomy to remove scar tissue from damaged tendons or lateral epicondylitis for tennis elbow.
2. Understand attractive factors for surgeons. In order to recruit surgeons to your ASC it is essential to recognize and identify what attracts a surgeon to work in such a setting, said Heather Rottmund, director of marketing for SpineSearch. ASC administrators and clinical staff should understand the workplace needs and wants of a surgeon. Obviously, new surgeons want to be associated with a profitable, high volume center. Promote your center's efficiency and patient convenience to recruit qualified surgeons.
"A major attraction to working at an ASC is the efficiency of such an outpatient setting," she said. "It is known that ASCs are more efficient than a hospital operating room and the turnover rate is much lower in comparison to hospitals. All of these facts help when recruiting a surgeon to your ASC."
3. Help the surgeons grow their business. When approaching orthopedic and spine surgeons, offer ways to help them build their business. Identify emerging medical markets and figure out how you can help the surgeons develop these opportunities to potentially bring cases into your center.
"There are a lot of compression fractures out there and those patients need treatment options," said Charles Dailey, vice president of development at ASD Management. "We can guide surgeons to offer support programs that encourage DEXA screenings and work with internal medicine facilities to identify when it would be appropriate to send their patients to orthopedic and spine specialists."
Surgery centers can work with their surgeons to spread education about their practices and make operating room time available for those cases.
"We aren't just raising awareness about our surgeons, we are creating a market and a pathway for patients who really need to be treated," Mr. Dailey said. "We are using medicine as a driver for our markets. This is well received in the orthopedic community and we are doing procedures in surgery centers with surgeons who are interested in practice growth."
4. Cater the recruitment process to surgeons. When attracting a surgeon to your ASC you must make sure to communicate clearly with the prospective surgeon. You want the surgeon to choose your facility as their future place of employment so make sure that you are clear when communicating all information. Be flexible when setting up an interview time. For example, if a surgeon is working all day in a hospital, be willing to meet them at lunch or in the evening, Ms. Rottmund said.
Make sure you do not waste the surgeons' time by preparing information ahead of time and having a clearly defined benefits package to use as a selling point. Having an appealing benefits package is always a major draw for attracting qualified employees, she said.
5. Provide a one-page statement about the ASC. An easy way for the surgeon to quickly assess whether an ASC would be a good fit is by laying out the facts in a one-page statement. The statement should identify the strengths of the facility and potential for investment opportunities.
"The surgeon will want to know what your turnover time is, the experience of your staff on these kinds of cases and what vendors you work with," said Reed Martin, chief operating officer of Surgical Management Professionals. "Implants are very important for these surgeons and the ability to acquire specific implants they need may be very critical."
The statement can also include information about infection control, complication rates and patient satisfaction scores.
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"I would look for orthopedic surgeons who have within their practices a significant percentage of surgeries that are appropriate for outpatient surgery centers," said John McConnell, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Greenville, Texas. "These surgeons tend to be typical candidates for surgical center staff as opposed to physicians whose practices involve total joint replacement or trauma surgeons who work in the hospital environment."
If the surgeons don't currently do outpatient procedures but are interested in the surgery center, offer to work with them to bring new procedures into the ASC. For example, surgeons can perform a percutaneous osteotomy to remove scar tissue from damaged tendons or lateral epicondylitis for tennis elbow.
2. Understand attractive factors for surgeons. In order to recruit surgeons to your ASC it is essential to recognize and identify what attracts a surgeon to work in such a setting, said Heather Rottmund, director of marketing for SpineSearch. ASC administrators and clinical staff should understand the workplace needs and wants of a surgeon. Obviously, new surgeons want to be associated with a profitable, high volume center. Promote your center's efficiency and patient convenience to recruit qualified surgeons.
"A major attraction to working at an ASC is the efficiency of such an outpatient setting," she said. "It is known that ASCs are more efficient than a hospital operating room and the turnover rate is much lower in comparison to hospitals. All of these facts help when recruiting a surgeon to your ASC."
3. Help the surgeons grow their business. When approaching orthopedic and spine surgeons, offer ways to help them build their business. Identify emerging medical markets and figure out how you can help the surgeons develop these opportunities to potentially bring cases into your center.
"There are a lot of compression fractures out there and those patients need treatment options," said Charles Dailey, vice president of development at ASD Management. "We can guide surgeons to offer support programs that encourage DEXA screenings and work with internal medicine facilities to identify when it would be appropriate to send their patients to orthopedic and spine specialists."
Surgery centers can work with their surgeons to spread education about their practices and make operating room time available for those cases.
"We aren't just raising awareness about our surgeons, we are creating a market and a pathway for patients who really need to be treated," Mr. Dailey said. "We are using medicine as a driver for our markets. This is well received in the orthopedic community and we are doing procedures in surgery centers with surgeons who are interested in practice growth."
4. Cater the recruitment process to surgeons. When attracting a surgeon to your ASC you must make sure to communicate clearly with the prospective surgeon. You want the surgeon to choose your facility as their future place of employment so make sure that you are clear when communicating all information. Be flexible when setting up an interview time. For example, if a surgeon is working all day in a hospital, be willing to meet them at lunch or in the evening, Ms. Rottmund said.
Make sure you do not waste the surgeons' time by preparing information ahead of time and having a clearly defined benefits package to use as a selling point. Having an appealing benefits package is always a major draw for attracting qualified employees, she said.
5. Provide a one-page statement about the ASC. An easy way for the surgeon to quickly assess whether an ASC would be a good fit is by laying out the facts in a one-page statement. The statement should identify the strengths of the facility and potential for investment opportunities.
"The surgeon will want to know what your turnover time is, the experience of your staff on these kinds of cases and what vendors you work with," said Reed Martin, chief operating officer of Surgical Management Professionals. "Implants are very important for these surgeons and the ability to acquire specific implants they need may be very critical."
The statement can also include information about infection control, complication rates and patient satisfaction scores.
More Articles on Improving Profits:
5 Tips for Spine Surgeons to Collect More From Payor Contracts
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