What ops leaders actually think about AI | Ep. 8

What ops leaders actually think about AI | Ep. 8

This episode steps back from the guest chair. Joe Zboch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezboch/], director of marketing at Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/] and host of Scaling Specialty Growth, recaps what five COOs and operations leaders at scaling practices taught him about the job. The throughline surprised him. ㅤ He expected operators to be mechanical and formula-driven. What he heard instead was that operations is about people and communication, and that the people part really is the operating system. Listeners get the top three takeaways from the first run of episodes: why people come before process and technology, why you can't optimize before you stabilize, and what operations leaders actually think about AI. It's a short reflection on what it takes to be an operations leader, and a read on where the show is headed next. ㅤ 📌 What we cover * Why people and communication, not a secret-sauce framework, turned out to be the real operating system * People first, process second, technology third as the actual order of operations * How a quarterly staff forum at DMOS lets feedback bubble up from the roots of the practice to the top * The start-small rule: a few chords before the whole song, and why you can't optimize before you stabilize * Treating change like a game the team plays together, so tough becomes fun * Setting KPIs and milestones so you can right the ship when a plan goes wayward * What operations leaders actually think about AI: grow with the staff you have, and let it clear the low-value tasks that lead to burnout * Why turnover in coordinator, contact center, and access center roles drops with training and a people-forward approach

Why deep integration is the harder path in GI | Jenn Muina, Divisional VP, Gastro Health | Ep. 7

Roll-ups are common in specialty healthcare. Deep integration is not. On episode 7 of Scaling Specialty Growth, Joe Zboch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezboch/] sits down with Jenn Muina [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-muina-mba-lssgb-73654138/], Divisional VP for Florida at Gastro Health, to talk about what it actually takes to fold an acquired GI practice into a national specialty operation. Jenn ran M&A integration at Gastro Health before her current role, so she knows the work from the inside. ㅤ The conversation covers why Gastro Health chose deep technical integration over a federated model, how the team listens to the front desk before changing anything, and what becomes possible when an entire network sits on one EHR instance. For operators scaling specialty groups through acquisition, this is the playbook from someone who's done the integration work. Brought to you by Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/]. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Jenn Muina [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-muina-mba-lssgb-73654138/] is Divisional Vice President for Florida at Gastro Health, where she leads operations across the founding division of a 7-state, 400+ physician GI platform. Before her current role, she was Director of Integration at Gastro Health, where she co-led M&A integrations and system implementations that shaped the company's operating model. She holds an MBA in Healthcare from Florida International University and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * Why Gastro Health chose deep technical integration over leaving acquired practices on separate systems * Building a cross-functional integration team that operates as change agents * Listening to front desk staff, schedulers, and intake coordinators before introducing any change * How a single EHR instance across divisions makes care-gap data finally addressable * Closing recall gaps for patients who would otherwise drift out of the panel * The pilot-first approach to new technology and new processes * AI as a complement to existing teams, not a replacement * Treating AI as both a workflow accelerator and an enabler of net-new workflows ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * Gastro Health [https://gastrohealth.com/] * Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/] * Jenn Muina on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-muina-mba-lssgb-73654138/] * Joe Zboch on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezboch/]

The patient experience is a process problem | Matthew Slater, Administrative Director of Orthopaedic Surgery, UC San Diego Health | Ep. 6

Patient experience used to be a fuzzy concept in specialty healthcare. It's not anymore. In Episode 6 of Scaling Specialty Growth, Joe Zboch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezboch/] talks with Matthew Slater [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-slater-dha-mha-lvn-84b7a935/], Administrative Director of Orthopaedic Surgery at UC San Diego Health, about what it actually takes to grow a specialty practice in a crowded market without letting the operational foundation crack. ㅤ They get into the connection between staff experience and patient experience, why most negative reviews are process problems and not care problems, the post-visit text that moved their experience scores, and how strategic hiring tied to access gaps is shaping a growth plan that runs out to 2034. Matthew also previews a new four-story musculoskeletal and neuro-focused building opening in 2029, and closes with a piece of advice pulled from his time as a flight nurse: stop being afraid of the decision. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Matthew Slater [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-slater-dha-mha-lvn-84b7a935/], DHA, MHA, LVN is Administrative Director of Orthopaedic Surgery at UC San Diego Health, where he leads ambulatory operations, access, and patient experience for the nationally ranked Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the first program in California to earn the Joint Commission's Advanced Certification in Spine Surgery. Before UC San Diego, Matthew held leadership roles at UCLA Health and served as Director of Ambulatory Operations at Barton Health. He serves on the American Alliance of Orthopaedic Executives (AAOE) Education Council. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * Why staff experience is the foundation that patient experience sits on, and how UC San Diego Health cut turnover by listening and promoting within * The post-visit text message that lifted experience scores in the "patient knew what to do after their appointment" category * Why most negative reviews are process problems, not care problems * A group-interview hiring philosophy where only nines and tens get hired * Strategic provider recruiting tied to specific access gaps in subspecialties like hand, foot, and ankle, PM&R, and joints * How almost 90% of joints now go home same day, and what that means for how MSK care gets built going forward * A growth plan running out to 2034 and a new four-story MSK and neuro building opening in 2029 * A flight-nurse-era leadership principle: you don't need more data, you need a decision and the willingness to pivot ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * UC San Diego Health [https://health.ucsd.edu/care/orthopedics/] * American Alliance of Orthopaedic Executives (AAOE) [https://www.aaoe.net/] * Epic * MyChart * The Joint Commission's Advanced Certification in Spine Surgery * The Petco vaccination superstation * Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/]

Growing without adding more people | Ross Rigdon, COO, Raleigh Orthopaedic | Ep. 5

Wake County adds 52 net new residents every single day. For a regional orthopedic practice, that's both a tailwind and a pressure test. More patients means more workflow to absorb, more payer rules to navigate, and less margin for operational error as the organization scales. ㅤ Joe Zboch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezboch/] sits down with Ross Rigdon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-rigdon/], Chief Operations Officer at Raleigh Orthopaedic, to talk through what operational growth actually looks like inside one of North Carolina's largest and oldest independent orthopedic practices. Ross and Joe cover payer compliance, staffing strategy, real-time data visibility, and the implementation philosophy Ross applies to both technology and people. Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/] sponsors this episode. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Ross Rigdon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-rigdon/] is the Chief Operations Officer at Raleigh Orthopaedic, the oldest orthopedic practice in eastern and central North Carolina. He's been with the organization for over seven years, moving from Lead DME Clinician and Administrative Fellow to Director of Operations and now COO. He holds an EMT Basic certification and a BS in Exercise Science from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and is an active member of the American Alliance of Orthopaedic Executives (AAOE). ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * How UnitedHealthcare's separate documentation requirement for imaging interpretation created an immediate workflow problem for orthopedic practices, and why the answer had to come from operations, not compliance alone. * Why Ross frames reactive compliance and proactive technology investment as the same job, not two competing priorities. * The natural-language AI dashboard Ross is building with his managed IT vendor: what it queries, what it monitors, and why the point isn't AI novelty but faster access to signals already buried in the practice's own data. * Why Ross pushes back on the vendor promise of 30-50% staff reductions, and what he thinks the better goal actually is for growing organizations. * How Raleigh Orthopaedic approaches staffing retention in a market where patient demand keeps growing and replacing good people is expensive. * The implementation philosophy Ross applies equally to technology rollouts and people: start with something small and consistent, get a reliable baseline, then build from it. * What Ross tells early-career healthcare administrators about learning every department before trying to lead any of them. ㅤ Visit Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/] to learn more about scaling referral operations for specialty practices.

Making specialty growth operations a game | Amy Seehafer, COO, OSMS | Ep. 4

Operations teams in specialty healthcare know what growth feels like from the inside: more clinics, more providers, more volume, and a back-office that's always running behind. This episode looks at how a COO with a fresh-eyed perspective manages that pressure without letting the organization come apart. ㅤ Joe Zboch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezboch/] sits down with Amy Seehafer [https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-seehafer-mba-sphr-shrm-scp-231136b/], COO of Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists (OSMS) [http://www.osmsgb.com], a physician-owned practice with 40+ providers, 9 locations, and $100M+ in annual revenue across northeast Wisconsin. Amy came from 20 years in HR and shared services operations outside of healthcare. This is her first year and a half in the industry, and she uses that perspective to ask questions her peers stopped asking long ago. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Amy Seehafer [https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-seehafer-mba-sphr-shrm-scp-231136b/] is the COO of OSMS, where she oversees enterprise operations, people strategy, and financial performance across 9 clinical locations and $100M+ in annual revenue. She holds an MBA and dual senior HR certifications (SPHR and SHRM-SCP). Before joining OSMS in September 2024, she spent 20+ years leading shared services operations, organizational design, change management, and HR strategy across complex multi-site environments. Healthcare was new. The ops discipline wasn't. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * Why Amy's three-part framework — people, process, technology — runs in that exact order, and what happens when practices skip the first two steps * How OSMS implemented patient self-scheduling across 9 locations and the "stabilize before you optimize" rule that kept it from derailing * The stop/start/continue method OSMS uses to audit processes without the baggage of how things have always been done * What Amy and her team discovered by shadowing departments they don't normally work in, and what gets noticed that insiders miss * The Goldilocks problem of labor optimization during growth: always slightly over or under, never quite right * How formal project management and change management made a new clinic opening feel, in Amy's words, easy * Advice for directors moving toward COO-level roles: learn the inputs and outputs of the business before pulling any levers ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists (OSMS) [http://www.osmsgb.com] * Hatch [https://hatchcare.com/] — mentioned in the episode outro