This Week in Surgery Centers

When most people think about clinical operations, they typically focus on the few hours the patient is at your ASC for their procedure. Katie Sypher is a Senior Consultant at LeftCoast Healthcare Advisors, and she’s here today to talk about how clinical operations actually begin long before the patient’s date of service, starting with patient education and ending with post-surgical follow-up. ASCs...

Last week, we held a live, online event with Will Evans. Will is the Senior Director, Data Science and Insights here at HST Pathways, and we spent an hour reviewing 10 of the most compelling clinical and financial industry benchmarks from HST’s latest State of The Industry report. If you haven’t seen it, we released a State of the Industry report in late September, and it includes best practices,...

As a first-generation American, small business owner, healthcare expert, and army veteran with extensive criminal law experience, Austin Cheng has an impressive and extensive resume. What does Austin plan to do next with this experience? Run for New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Austin Cheng is currently the CEO of Gramercy Surgery Center in New York. We had the opportunity to sit down with A...

Today is the final episode in our 9-part De Novo series! Last but certainly not least, Greg DeConciliis joins us again to discuss Continuous Improvement. You have officially opened your doors, and you can certainly celebrate, but what you cannot do is become complacent. So, Greg walks us through keeping physician and patient satisfaction high, the role of data and benchmarking, how to cultivate an...

We are in the homestretch of our 9-part De Novo series! James McClung joins us this week for part #8 to take us through what you should do when you are 30 days from your first patient. We’ll review final regulatory and compliance checks, necessary equipment, technology, supplies, and contingency plans and cover how to prepare your clinical and administrative teams. In our news recap, we’ll cover t...

Wil Schlaff joins us this week as we continue our series of episodes dedicated to De Novos. Wil is an ASC Development and Operations Specialist, so he has seen it all, and today, we’re focusing on preparing the business side of the house for your new surgery center. We cover capital investments, vendor contracts, finding the best scheduling and billing software, handling HR functions, and everythi...

Andy Berg, Director of Clinical Staffing at MedHQ, joined us for the sixth installment of our De Novo series to discuss the intricacies of assembling the ideal team for a new surgery center. Regardless of whether you're opening an ASC, the episode is filled with invaluable insights on staff recruitment, flexible hiring strategies, identifying leadership qualities, and ensuring your existing team i...

Greg DeConciliis is a Physician Assistant and Administrator at Boston Out-Patient Surgical Suites. He spent time with us today to share tips and insights on properly preparing the clinical side of the house while you are opening a new surgery center. In this 5th episode of our De Novo series, we’ll cover who your first hire should be and when, which clinical team members you must have in place to...

Beata Canby is a principal and partner at LeftCoast Healthcare Advisors, and she joins us today to talk about managing the regulatory and certification process while trying to open a new surgery center. Beata does a great job of breaking down the fundamental agencies to know, what order to get your certifications in, and tips for speeding up the process and staying organized. In our news recap, we...

This is a special LIVE edition of This Week in Surgery Centers! Dawn Pfeiffer is the Director of Integration at Regent Surgical Health and a tenured ASC consultant. She has had a hand in opening many successful surgery centers, so we spent an hour with her covering as many best practices as we could and exploring effective strategies for a smooth process and successful opening. Together, we addres...

Last week we sat down with Wil Schlaff to talk about how to conduct a feasibility assessment for your new surgery center.  As a continuation of that conversation, we’re sitting down with Michael McClain to discuss navigating payer contracts for your new surgery center. Michael is the founder and managing member at LeftCoast Healthcare Advisors, and we are talking through how to initiate payer...

Wil Schlaff is no stranger to the process of opening up a new surgery center. As an ASC Development and Operations Specialist, he has worked on many new builds from their infancy stage through to the first patient walking in the door. Today, he joins us to discuss the importance and logistics of Conducting a Comprehensive Feasibility Assessment. From determining market demand to physician recruitm...

In this week's episode, we are deviating from our regular guest discussions and stories to exclusively dive into the CMS 2024 Proposed Payment Rule. Maura Cash, our VP of Clinical Strategies here at HST Pathways, has examined the extensive 963-page document, extracting the good, the bad, and the mixed proposed rules that directly impact the surgery center industry. Feedback from additional in...

Dr. Betsy Grunch is a highly talented board-certified neurosurgeon based in Georgia, and if that isn’t impressive enough, she also happens to be a social media influencer who shares her content with millions of followers across TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn under the name LadySpineDoc. She joins us on this week’s episode to talk about how her use of social media has helped inc...

Surgery centers often struggle to predict if a case will be profitable before taking it on, especially with complex and high-acuity cases. Gavin Fabian is the Chief Innovation Officer at HST Pathways, and alongside his team, he decided to tackle this problem head-on and build first-of-its-kind software that would arm ASCs with the data they need to avoid unprofitable cases and take on cases with f...

Maura Cash is the VP of Clinical Strategies here at HST Pathways, and she is here today to talk to us about the ASC industry’s role in reducing the disparity of care. Now if you’re a frequent listener of our show, you know exactly who Maura is and her impact on the industry, so it should be no surprise that she is bringing us this incredibly important information. Together we cover what disparity...

🎙️Over the last three months, we have had seven amazing ASC leaders on our podcast.   At the end of every discussion, we always ask them, "What is one thing our listeners can do this week to improve their surgery centers?" We took all seven of their answers and turned them into this week's episode. Topics range from interoperability to finding a strategic partner to profitability and so much...

As we reach the midpoint of 2023, it's the perfect time for us to reflect on the year so far and anticipate what lies ahead in the second half. In this episode, we will dive into ten noteworthy news stories that have been making waves in the ever-evolving surgery center industry. Here’s what to expect: Top 25 healthcare companies: Fortune 500: UnitedHealth Group tops the Fortune 500 list with $324...

Erik Sunset, the VP of Marketing at DocBuddy, joins the show today to discuss how technology can effectively address the financial and operational challenges faced by many surgery centers. In this insightful conversation, we explore the potential of technology to tackle three key issues: staffing, workflows, and revenue cycle management. Additionally, we delve into relevant EHR topics, including M...

The Annual ASCA Conference took place May 17-20th, 2023, bringing together 1,200+ ASC experts, professionals, and vendors from around the country. Over the course of four days, attendees explored the latest advancements and trends, heard from an impressive lineup of speakers, and networked with likeminded individuals who deeply care about the success and longevity of the ASC industry. This week’s...

When it comes to strategic partnerships, surgery centers have many options to choose from, but timing is everything. Blake Peart is the Managing Director of Vertess, and he's on the show this week to chat about when it is the right time to consider a strategic partner, key indicators that its time, potential benefits and advantages, and identifying the right partner. In our news recap, we'll cover...

When it comes to implementing an EMR, there are a lot of steps to consider. One often overlooked step is updating your Policies & Procedures. Maura Cash is the Vice President of Clinical Strategies at HST Pathways, and she is here today to walk us through which policies and procedures need to be updated, which need to be created, and why it matters. In our news recap, we’ll cove...

Should your surgery center accept every case that it can? Or should you be more selective? Matt Kraemer is the Administrator of Northern Arizona Healthcare's Surgery Center, and we sat down to chat through various scenarios where it might be in your surgery center's best interest to say no. He's sharing why this is important, their decision-making approach, and the results that they've seen so far...

Angela Mattioda is the Senior Vice President of RCM Solutions at Surgical Notes, and we caught up with her to talk about the role of eligibility verification in ensuring profitability. During our discussion with Angela, we dive into common challenges, technology's role, authorizations, avoiding revenue loss, and more. In our news recap, we'll cover Uber's same-day prescription delivery, OpenAI and...

We hear about the concept of interoperability used all the time, but what does it truly mean and look like in practice? Michael Powers is the Administrator at Children's West Surgery Center, and he is here today to talk about The Power of Interoperability & Technology. Michael and his team have recently undergone an initiative to transition from 5+ software vendors to one, so he's sharing what...