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Saul Marquez:
Hey, everybody! It’s Saul Marquez with the Outcomes Rocket. I want to thank you for tuning in again to the podcast. We’ve got some incredible updates for you all, and really, with today’s opportunity to have Heather Richards on the podcast, let me tell you a little bit about her, and then we’ll dive into the conversation. Heather is the Chief Revenue Optimization Officer at Atlas Healthcare Partners. She’s got over 20 years experience as a transformational and results-oriented leader. Heather leads Atlas Payer Strategy and Operations, as well as centralized revenue cycle management services with a focus on developing value-based arrangements, optimizing revenue with managed care contracts, and delivering best-in-class revenue cycle results. We all know that times have been turbulent, and it’s never been more important to have a good balance and strategy in how we execute rev cycle management. So today, I’m excited to have her on the podcast to talk about what they’re up to, and really looking forward to our time together here. Heather, thanks for joining.
Heather Richards:
Thank you, Saul, so much. And I think this is a great day in that, today, being August 1st, is the first day of ASC recognition month. So celebrating the journey over the last 50 years for the ASC industry.
Saul Marquez:
Wow, I did not know that, so that’s very cool. And it’s come quite a way from where it was to the central role that it plays today in how care delivery organizations deliver care. So, Heather, you’re the expert here. Talk, before we dive into some of the best practices and things that you’ll share with us, talk to us about what got you into the healthcare space.
Heather Richards:
Sure, sure, happy to do so. So, I’ve had an interesting journey in my career. I came through the ranks of finance and accounting and had a great opportunity to shift into operations in a totally different industry in manufacturing and supply chain management. And I like to say I stumbled into healthcare as I pursued a consulting arrangement and company and built out a host of different clients, some of those were healthcare clients, and I quickly realized that there was a massive opportunity for improvement for all stakeholders in healthcare. I’m very process-driven, very customer-focused. So, the opportunity for all stakeholders, being employers who are commonly referred to as payers, and we can talk about that a little later, the consumer, or otherwise known as the patient, and, of course, providers of healthcare. I think the industry lags in so many ways when we think about healthcare as a service offering being consumed in a free market economy. Where is quality balanced with cost? Where is access balance with consumer choice? Where is price and payment balance with predictability? In healthcare, I find it interesting that it’s one of those services that, you know, no other industry would you expect to receive goods or services from a seller, and that seller not be guaranteed payment under a contractual agreement, or even the buyer not having predictability in what the service is going to be delivered or how much that would cost to them. So, I see many fronts that healthcare transformation can take hold, and excited to be on that journey as well.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, so really great summary there. Just kind of the macro view of how healthcare is so different compared to business in general. So, if we zoom into Atlas Healthcare Partners, Heather, talk to us about how you guys are adding value to the healthcare ecosystem.
Heather Richards:
Sure, so first, a little bit about Atlas. We’re a privately owned company. We partner to provide health systems and physicians the opportunity to develop and manage an ASC network in their individual markets. We’re not publicly traded, as I said, we’re privately owned. So, we avoid a lot of the conflicts associated with publicly traded companies. We deliver on our strategy through what we call our operating model, and that operating model starts with the foundation being our culture. And we look to invest in people and the process that we deploy with those people to really build a best-in-class operation where we can deliver on service, you know, making sure that we’re delivering expertise, and in a compliant and safe manner, health services to our patients, and also providing a positive working environment for our physicians and other providers, so that they can focus on patient safety and quality. Through that, we’re able to achieve growth and provide access throughout various markets across the country. That growth aligns with our health system partners strategy, our physician partners strategy, and that growth can also benefit the community through providing easier access to quality care at a lower cost. And then, finally, our profitability is driven by all of the preceding items I just mentioned. So, being able to provide culture service and growth, enhancing the profitability of the company is what we do.
Saul Marquez:
That’s it’s pretty encompassing. There’s a lot that you guys offer there as far as value goes. And just to clarify, is the work and service you guys provide go from wanting to plan and build a new facility or acquiring, or is it the entire life cycle of the ASC process?
Heather Richards:
Absolutely. So over the last 4 or 5 years, we actually have grown from two employees to over a thousand employees. We operate in multiple states at this time and have upwards of 30 operating centers with several more centers either being built or acquired. We partner with health systems, nonprofit health systems, to help them with their strategy. It’s surprising, honestly, that a lot of these systems have not had the expertise internally or had the bandwidth to really put together that strategy and focus on how to build out another access to healthcare in their communities.
Saul Marquez:
That’s fabulous. And congratulations on the rapid growth. It’s a testament to the value you guys are adding there. And folks, Heather comes to us with previous experience on the provider side too. She held leadership roles at Baylor Scott & White and others so, and Tenant Healthcare as well. So certainly, a leader with a lot of experience around things like value-based care and things that could be delivered in the ambulatory surgical space. As you think about the things that make you guys different, Heather, what would you point to as the thing that makes you guys different?
Heather Richards:
Sure, I think, again, it kind of goes back to what I said earlier in terms of we’re a very agile company. We are a combination of many different backgrounds. We come from different lanes of healthcare. Many of us have spent decades in the healthcare arena. But I think foremost, we recognize that we need to do things differently. And being able to approach an individual market and recognize that market has its own nuances, whether it be from the community, the patient population, the providers, experience, the payer guidelines or restrictions. Those are all considerations that we take into account to truly tailor a market strategy to build out their ASC footprint. And I think it’s really important that we focus on what is it we’re trying to achieve. So it’s one thing, it’s not a situation where build it, and they shall come, right? We really need to focus on what is that patient experience, providing patients with the power of choice and access to care, the quality of that care. ASCs are very much regulated and focused on making sure that we have a safe environment. We have a very efficient environment. I like to think of ASCs as more of a boutique experience of healthcare. When you look at a procedure, someone having a procedure, and you know they’re nervous, and it’s intimidating, and walking into a hospital environment can be overwhelming. Many patients have a positive experience coming into a smaller care setting. It’s more intimate, highly personalized, and then provider satisfaction. The logistics of working within an ASC are very much conducive to a physician being efficient, being able to have a team surrounding them that knows what he or she expects and can anticipate their needs, which ultimately provides the opportunity for that physician or surgeon to provide better quality of care for the patient. And then ultimately all of this, because it is a highly efficient operation specializing in service lines and a highly specialized focus, we’re able to deliver that care at a lower cost, which obviously benefits patients and employers alike.
Saul Marquez:
Love it. No, thank you so much for that. It’s apparent you guys have a firm command on the operations and delivery in this particular space. So if you’re listening to this and you’ve been wondering, hey, I’ve just been looking for new ideas, or a way that we could introduce this service line of ambulatory surgical centers into the mix, certainly check out the show notes of today’s podcast. We’ll have links to Heather and the entire team there, ways you could get in touch with them to explore opportunities. So, Heather, oftentimes, in fact, I think most times we learn more from our setbacks than our wins. Talk to us about some of the things you guys have seen and have learned, setback-wise.
Heather Richards:
Sure, I think that’s a great question. So, from a setback for Atlas, I think a lot of our setbacks are opportunities. I personally don’t look at challenges or barriers as a setback. I look at that as an opportunity to make a decision and make a choice. And as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Well, I do believe that setbacks actually helped produce a better outcome. So, from an analyst perspective, I think setbacks in all of our histories, right? Again, I’m calling them setbacks because that’s your label. But they’re really opportunities to say, okay, this at the time was the right process or the right strategy to solve for whatever it is we were trying to achieve. And now that we’ve gained more experience and healthcare has evolved over time, I think that we collectively have a better solution for making sure that the next leg of this journey and taking the ASC to a different level in terms of development and acceleration in that development throughout the country. There are many very dominant players that do a great job out in the market, but I do believe that the power of choice is going to dictate a lot of where the industry goes in the future, and being able to work with a partner that not only understands where the industry has been, where the industry is today, and where it’s going from, again, from all stakeholders perspective, whether it be the health system, the payer ecosystem, including employers, and most importantly in my mind, the consumer, the patient. And when you have a full understanding of that and can effectively act on those changes and be agile in how you adapt and build out that strategy to accomplish whatever goals are set out by each system. Every market has a different footprint; they have different goals and objectives, so one size fits all is not our approach at all. And I think that is the lessons that we have learned and gathered together to make something different at Atlas Healthcare Partners.
Saul Marquez:
That’s great. Yeah, no, thank you for that. And every health system is different. The communities they serve are different, and thus, you need to have a unique lens on every market and go-to-market strategy. So, I appreciate you sharing that. Look, as you think about the things that you’re most excited about, what would you say is the one thing that sticks out?
Heather Richards:
I think, from a macro perspective, I think the acceleration of healthcare consumerism is what’s driving a lot of why Atlas Healthcare Partners exist today. Why the Ambulatory Surgery Center strategy is so important? I think healthcare consumerism has been a concept, right, that has evolved over time, and I think it should be a given right that patients have, are given safe quality care, but how do they get that care? And I do believe that through data and technology, that’s going to be a transformational shift. There’s a lot of discussion about that. There’s a lot of parties out there trying to find their lane. But I look at the acceleration of healthcare consumerism as being the real pivotal moment in our healthcare history to change how the healthcare industry landscape looks in the next 20 to 40 years; through data and technology, having access to information, providing insights more capable of providing insights than human beings are, having a consumer-centric technology infrastructure to link consumers to the healthcare industry. All things that, again, I go back to what our free market enterprise experiences are today with some big names that we can all probably think of and how we engage as consumers. How do we bring that to a level that makes healthcare more accessible, easier to navigate from a patient or consumer perspective, and has predictable outcomes as well as predictable costs for all parties? I get excited. That’s what gets me up out of bed every day, that I truly believe that we have a moment in time where we are going to make changes that are going to be downstream, sustainable solutions that will change the footprint of healthcare in the future.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, no, thank you, Heather. And we’re really excited about that too, healthcare consumerism, and the ability for all of us to make decisions based on information, you made the call out, Heather, information that is like real market, the way that the economics system should work. I think the future is close, and whether it’s value-based care or just transparency. I’m with you. I think we’re getting closer to a very promising health system for all of us. Look, if you had one call to action for people, as we close out our podcast today, what would you leave them with, and what’s the best place that they could get in touch with you and the Atlas Healthcare team?
Heather Richards:
Sure, no, I appreciate that. I think the call to action, we’re all consumers. And I’m going to go back to that consumer dissatisfaction with high cost of healthcare delivery. The complexity of navigating their care journey should be motivating to all of us that are in the industry to seek out better ways to deliver quality care more efficiently, effectively at reduced costs. I think health industry leaders who understand and embrace that innovation, which will come with disruption, will ultimately be what changes the course of the industry as we know it today. And I like to imagine a world where healthcare, no different than other industry, is kept in check by its consumer. And my goal is to leave healthcare better than I found it, and my colleagues at Atlas Healthcare subscribe to that same notion, and I think that collectively we can make changes. And I think that’s an important for us to partner, whether it be health systems, partnering with community physicians, partnering with employers in the community, and payers, and ultimately all keeping that North Star being, how do we make healthcare better for the consumer? And if anyone would like to further discuss, I could go on all day about these subjects and others, but would be happy to engage. You can reach any one of us at AlasHP.com, happy to engage, and we have links there, and also happy to engage on my LinkedIn profile at Heather Richards on LinkedIn.
Saul Marquez:
Outstanding, Heather, thank you so much. And yeah, I do also want to highlight, folks, something very important that Heather has been focused on during our conversation this whole time, it’s the consumer. And if you’re a health system wanting to make an impact in this front, it’s important that you partner with people that are thinking the same way, because legacy thinking is not going to get you to the future state of healthcare and having a partner that is forward-thinking, Heather and Atlas Healthcare Partners, I think is key. So let’s think about the company we keep. And so with that, Heather, I just want to thank you so much for doing what you do and having joined us today on the Outcomes Rocket.
Heather Richards:
Thank you so much, Saul. Have a great day.
Saul Marquez:
You too.
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