Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Using Technology to Strengthen Orthopedic Care and Operations with Dr. Clay Dorenkamp

Transcript

Using Technology to Strengthen Orthopedic Care and Operations with Dr. Clay Dorenkamp · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - Just five years ago, a big portion of
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  - what's now being done in ambulatory surgery centers
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  - wasn't considered outpatient work. The cases have changed,
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  - the tech has changed, the patient expectations have
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  - changed, and the leaders who are thriving are
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  - the ones who saw it coming.
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  - Becker's twenty third annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain
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  - Management Driven ASC Conference
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  - exists for exactly that kind of forward looking
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  - practitioner.
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  - Here, Becker's hosts more than 1,000 attendees, 275
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  - physician and ASC speakers, and three days of
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  - sessions that move between the clinical, the operational,
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  - and the strategic, and the CME credits to
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  - show for
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  - it. Join us June eleventh through the thirteenth
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  - at the Swiss Hotel in Chicago, and come
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  - ready to think about what's next. Register on
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  - our events page at beckershospitalreview.com
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  - by clicking on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - This is Gracelyn Keller with the Buckers Healthcare
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  - Podcast, and we are recording live at the
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  - twenty third annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management
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  - Driven ASC Conference.
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  - I'm currently joined by doctor Clay Dornkamp, who
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  - is an orthopedic surgeon at Michigan Orthopedic
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  - Center.
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  - So thank you so much for joining me
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  - today. I'd love to have you start by
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  - briefly introducing yourself and telling us more about
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  - your role and the scope of your organization,
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  - including what is currently commanding most of your
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  - attention as leader.
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  - Yeah. Thanks for having me. This conference has
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  - been great.
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  - This is actually my third year attending and
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  - speaking at the conference, so I always enjoy
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  - the sessions and and the collaboration and and
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  - discussion amongst both the industry partners as well
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  - as other organizations within the space. For me,
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  - specifically, I'm a orthopedic spine surgeon, like like
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  - you said, at Michigan Orthopedic Center in Lansing,
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  - Michigan.
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  - I focus primarily on spine surgery. So about
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  - 95% of my practice is spine surgery with
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  - a little bit of, orthopedic traumatology mixed in.
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  - I work in a group of 11 orthopedic
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  - surgeons through a variety of orthopedic specialties.
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  - We run a very high volume total joints,
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  - spine,
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  - etcetera practice. And then also in that, I
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  - also,
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  - function as the organization's chief technology officer, so,
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  - instrumental at validating
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  - and implementing new technology and tools and helping
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  - make sure we're staying up to date with
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  - the current technologies.
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  - Beautiful.
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  - Well, in a year marked by rapid change,
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  - what recent decision or pivot required the most
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  - leadership conviction from you, particularly when it came
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  - to aligning people resources or capabilities?
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  - Yeah. So our our biggest problem, like, I'm
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  - sure a lot of organizations probably have, is
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  - dedicating the amount of or amount of people
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  - to the and resources to what is really
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  - needed in our practice.
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  - Really, our main goal as physicians is to
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  - be there and care for our patients.
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  - And
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  - one of the things we've really struggled with
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  - is keeping our back office staff to meet
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  - the increasing patient demands
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  - and being able to effectively communicate and engage
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  - with our patients. So that's really been kind
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  - of where we've been focusing on this year
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  - is,
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  - exploring and and,
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  - working on deploying technology to help us better
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  - communicate with our patients, answer questions more efficient
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  - efficiently,
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  - and really start to use technology to help
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  - improve our patient care.
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  - And how did these moments challenge your assumptions,
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  - and what do they change about how you
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  - approach decision making, talent, or organizational readiness?
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  - This is a great question because there's so
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  - many solutions out there.
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  - We actually started this process about a year
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  - ago, and a lot of solutions didn't exist.
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  - So we are actually working with a company
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  - to develop a product to fit our solution.
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  - And,
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  - ultimately, like, what it really challenged me on
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  - is that
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  - this product is gonna be for my patients.
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  - Right? I have to be their one sitting
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  - there across the patients and making sure that
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  - it it works well and it it functions
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  - well and it's safe for my patients to
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  - use. And that's been, like, one of the
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  - biggest
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  - challenges for me is to feel confident
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  - in in in having something that I can
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  - trust to to deliver the care that I
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  - feel I my patients deserve and the standard
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  - I wanna be accountable for.
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  - Certainly.
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  - And and shifting gears slightly, when you think
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  - about the forces reshaping health care right now,
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  - where do you believe leaders need to be
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  - more decisive, especially when balancing speed, risk, and
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  - having the right teams in place?
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  - That is the million dollar question in health
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  - care right now because
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  - insurers are are rapidly deploying technology to help,
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  - them manage their
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  - denial management and evaluate
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  - care. And I think
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  - practices and hospitals really have to be on
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  - the forefront of that too, or we're gonna
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  - be left behind.
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  - So,
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  - really, we have to, one, we have to
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  - make sure things are safe for our patients.
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  - I don't think technology today is ready to
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  - replace the clinician in the room.
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  - There's a lot of headlines that always,
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  - you know, make it sound like,
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  - you know, CHAT GBT or CLOD or something
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  - is better at diagnosing a patient than a
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  - doctor is, when in reality, like, that's not
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  - where medicine needs help today. We need help
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  - managing our back office and making sure we're
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  - getting patients through the system effectively and efficiently,
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  - making sure that we're meeting their needs, we're
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  - not missing
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  - urgent matters. And then, also, we need help
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  - on the payer and
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  - position
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  - relationship side where we can more effectively communicate
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  - with the payers and decrease the operational burden
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  - it takes to actually drive the revenue cycle
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  - management through our through our practices.
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  - And as uncertainty has become the norm, what
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  - leadership habit or mindset has been most critical
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  - in keeping your organization and people moving forward?
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  - I think it's alignment. If only one person
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  - is pushing something, you're never gonna get anywhere
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  - as even in a medium sized orthopedic clinic
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  - like ours,
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  - especially in larger organizations.
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  - You have to be able to communicate effectively
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  - with the leadership
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  - to show why this is important and show
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  - why this is gonna improve patient care and
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  - ultimately give you the a meaningful ROI in
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  - the future. So I think alignment and communication
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  - are probably the biggest leadership skills in deploying
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  - these.
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  - Well, doctor Dornkamp, thank you so much for
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  - joining me today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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  - And, again, we are recording live at the
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  - twenty third annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management
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  - Driven ASC Conference.