She says most investors care about the same traits in an ASC: quality care, good equipment, friendly staff, accommodating anesthesiologists, timely starts, good distributions, scheduling flexibility and ease of pre-operative evaluation. But knowing those preferences is only half the battle. “Where I see centers going from ‘good to great’ is truly understanding the priorities of what is important and catering to the investor accordingly,” she says.
She says investigating an investor’s priorities should take a significant amount of time on the ASC administrator’s part. Don’t just assume you know where an investor’s priorities lie — your interest “needs to be genuine,” Ms. Mazzitti says. For example, she says one investor may care primarily about the center’s bottom line, in which case the ASC would offer the investor scheduling availability and equipment use that will benefit revenue. Another investor may be attracted to the ASC when you trial a new piece of equipment the hospital won’t.
ASC administrators must spend time with their investors to determine what will make them excited about investing in the ASC, Ms. Mazzitti says. “Get inside the heads of each investor [and] be truthful [about] how you can accommodate them,” she says. “And always be willing to compromise. It’s their center, not yours — make decisions accordingly.”
