The $150 Billion Blind Spot in Ambulatory Care That's Hiding in Plain Sight with Michelle Skinner
About this episode
The episode discusses the complexities of ambulatory care and strategies to improve patient coordination and operational efficiency.
On this episode of the MGMA Insights Podcast, host and senior editor Daniel Williams chats with Michelle Skinner, MBA, BSN, RN, chief clinical executive at Teletracking , about the growing complexity of ambulatory care and what it takes to keep patients connected to the right care at the right time. Their conversation explores referral leakage, scheduling inefficiencies, and provider capacity constraints — along with practical ways health systems and practices can improve visibility, streamline operations, and protect both patient access and financial performance. Key Takeaways Ambulatory care now dominates the care landscape More than 60% of care is delivered outside hospital walls, forcing organizations to rethink how they coordinate patient movement across distributed networks. Referral leakage is a massive, often hidden problem An estimated $150 billion is lost annually due to patients leaving the network, while 38% of referrals never fully close the loop — frequently due to lack of visibility and communication gaps. The biggest issue isn’t staffing — it’s fragmentation Many practices feel “busy and full,” yet system-level data shows inefficiencies. The disconnect stems from…
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