This Week in Surgery Centers

If you are considering a hospital/physician ASC joint venture or are just curious about learning more about what a relationship could look like, then this episode is for you. Joan Dentler is the Founder of Avanza Healthcare Strategies, and she is sharing why hospitals are taking an increased interest in ASCs, the challenges both parties will face, and how to achieve short and long-term success. In...

Hal Nelson is the Vice President of Anesthesia Services at MSN Healthcare Solutions and he joins us this week to share five Revenue Optimization Strategies for Anesthesia Providers. The tips and strategies that he shares are incredibly helpful so that anesthesiologists can make sure they’re collecting every dollar they’ve earned – and also really helpful for surgery center staff so they can unders...

Over the last three months, we have had 9 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?” To close out the first quarter of the year, we took all 9 of their answers and turned them into this week’s episode. Topics range from benchmarking to scheduling to rev cycle trends and...

Data can be leveraged to identify savings opportunities, and Jeff Lawrence, Envi's VP of Business Development, is on the podcast this week to tell us exactly how. Clean, robust, and actionable data should be at the core of your surgery center's strategy if you want to continue to thrive. In our news recap, we'll cover a few nursing schools that are offering free tuition in exchange for a pledge to...

Almost every surgery center is struggling with two issues right now – staffing shortages and rising costs. By hiring Medical Assistants, you might be able to tackle both problems at once. Jim Stilley, the CEO at Great Lakes Orthopaedic Center, currently the largest practice north of Grand Rapids, joins us today to share his perspective on hiring Medical Assistants where appropriate might just be t...

When was the last time you reviewed your chargemaster? If you're not performing an analysis on an annual basis, you are likely underbilling and leaving money on the table. Tara Gillon is the Chief Operating Officer at Serbin Medical Billing, and she's sharing what role the chargemaster plays, why it's so important to compare your current charges against your managed care contracts, and how to get...

Marie Yarborough is the Admin of Skyway Surgery Center, and she is here today to talk to us about the Top Five KPIs all ASCs Should be Tracking. There’s that very popular saying you’ve probably heard a million times, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” and that’s undoubtedly true for surgery centers. We get to talk with Marie about the top KPIs, how she determines what to measure, how...

Let's dive into Revenue Cycle Trends! Lisa Rock is the President of National Medical Billing Services, and she's here today to talk about what we can expect to see this year regarding payers, implants, managed contracts, the out-of-network landscape, and so much more. In our news recap, we'll cover marketing your ASC, tips from 55 industry leaders, tips for post-op nausea and vomiting, and of cour...

Debra Stinchcomb is a Senior Consultant for Progressive Surgical Solutions, and she's joining us today to talk about common deficiencies she typically sees during the Patient Tracer Exercise. With 30+ years of experience, Debra has seen it all, and we dive into the tracer methodology, why it's essential for patient safety, and how you can pass with flying colors. In our news recap, we'll cover soc...

Last week, HST Pathways held our first live podcast event! We were joined by four ASC leaders who joined our panel to discuss 2023 trends and the four pillars that are top of mind for every surgery center: Patients, Physicians, People, and Payers. Our panel shared excellent first-hand advice, shared tips for succeeding in 2023, and answered audience questions live. A huge thank you to ASCA for hel...

Dr. Tom Kenjarski is the Founder & Managing Partner of Noble Anesthesia Partners, and we are so excited to sit down with him as he is the first anesthesiologist we’ve had on the show! On today's episode, our host Nick Latz is chatting with Dr. Kenjarski about the current state of anesthesiology in the ASC industry and how surgery centers can optimize case scheduling for all stakeholders, which...

Gwen Donithan is the Clinical Director at Roanoke Valley Center for Sight, and she’s here to share how ASCs can use Benchmarking to Improve Care & Your Bottom Line. With four locations spread out across Virginia, Gwen is primarily offsite, so she relies on benchmarking to keep her in the loop and uses data to determine tangible, effective ways to improve. In our news recap, we’ll cover five ne...

It's officially 2023! Kara Newbury, ASCA’s Director of Government Affairs and Regulatory Counsel, is here today to share what ASCs need to do to start Acting on CMS’ 2023 Final Medicare Rule. As the industry's expert, Kara walks us through reimbursement rates, the covered procedures list, the complexity adjustment policy, and more. In our news recap, we’ll cover five trends ASCs need to know in 20...

Over the last three months, we have had 12 exceptional 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?” To close out the year, we took all 12 of their answers, tied them up in a pretty bow, and turned them into this week’s episode as our holiday gift to you. Thank you to all our list...

Adam Hornback is the Administrator at the North Texas Team Care Surgery Center. He is here to talk to us about a topic we have not covered yet – Real Ways to Reduce Waste & Increase Recycling at your surgery center. As this is a passion of Adam’s, he has tried some exciting and innovative ways to implement processes to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and hopefully, you can take some of these ideas...

Eliza Alberto-Widdowson is the Director of Nursing at Mann Cataract Surgery Center, and she is here to talk to us about Bridging the Gap with Nursing Informatics. As technology’s role in healthcare continues to expand, so will the role of nursing informatics. This is a fascinating and timely topic and not one that many people are talking about (but it should be!). In our news recap, we’ll cover wh...

Kayla Schneeweiss-Keene is the administrator at Mann Cataract Surgery Center, and she's here to talk to us about how to use technology to improve patient outcomes. Kayla and her team recently implemented groundbreaking technology at her ASC, and she'll walk us through what that was like and tips for how you can do the same. In the news recap, we'll cover more cybersecurity attacks, patients being...

A surveyor shows up in your lobby, unannounced, with the clipboard in hand, ready to evaluate your surgery center. Are you ready? James McClung, an ASC Developer and Consultant at Reliant Medical Services, is on today's episode to ensure you can confidently answer yes! In our news recap, we'll cover Google Cloud and Epic's latest plans, a drug shortage created by TikTok, a dire rural hospital situ...

Staffing has stolen the show as the primary concern for ASCs right now. Dallas Freyer is the admin at Corpus Christi Outpatient Surgery and also the President of the Texas ASC Society, and she joins us this week to share four real tips you can implement ASAP to improve staff satisfaction at your ASC and stop the revolving door on its tracks. In our news recap, we’ll cover lab-grown red blood cells...

Tim Burney is the Founder & CEO of Advantien, and he's here to talk to us about how ASCs can better understand and negotiate fair implant costs. Implants are typically one of the top three drivers of cost for an ASC, so Tim has some great tips for how you can reduce overall costs and how you can get the best price. In our news recap, we'll do a deep dive into the CMS 2023 final payment rule, t...

Collecting payment from patients can be tedious and challenging, especially after their surgery is complete. We’re joined today by Ken Bulow, EVP of Operations at Surgical Notes, to chat about how you can implement workflows and proven processes to get your claims paid after the bill goes out. In our news recap, we'll cover CMS’ 2023 final payment rule, new innovation around tattoos and medical al...

Managing a medication room in a surgery center can be super complicated. From vendor selection to national drug shortages to supply chain issues to drug diversion it can be extremely overwhelming. Amy Jones, Owner of Jones Premier Pharmacy Consulting, joins us today to discuss the policies ASCs should put into place so that they can have full control over their medication room. In our news recap,...

Beth LaBouyer - From Nurse to Admin: Succeeding in Business Episode Notes: You know how to run an OR, but how about running an ASC? In our world, it's common for someone with a clinical background to get promoted to an Admin or CEO and be expected to now run the day-to-day business. Beth LaBouyer, the Executive Director of CASA, shares her own experience and breaks down five tips to make your tran...

Are you ready to start marketing your ASC?! Our host Nick Latz sits down with Bill Hazen, the Admin/CEO at Surgery Center at Pelham, who uses different marketing tactics to drive revenue and their Total Joints program. From billboards to radio ads to local sponsorships - Bill gives our listeners a look into how he's using consumer-driven healthcare to improve their bottom line. In our news recap,...

On this week's episode, our host Raphael Akinsipe chatted with Alex Taira, ASCA's Regulatory Policy and Research Manager about what ASCs can likely expect in 2023 when it comes to the No Surprises Act. In our news recap, we'll cover the Great Resignation, the smartest moves made in 2022, and the disparity in the number of Latino doctors and surgeons. Articles Mentioned: How To Ensure Your Nurses S...