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forward slash beckerspodcast.
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast, and we are recording live at the
thirty first annual business and operations of ASCs.
I'm currently joined by Todd Currier, who is
the CEO and administrator at Bend Surgery Center.
Todd, thanks for being here today. Let's have
us, kick off by sharing a bit more
about yourself and your work in the ASC
space. You bet. Thank you for having me
here.
I really enjoy,
conferences such as this Becker's conference. And,
just to share a little bit about myself,
my past history was as a CPA for
seventeen years in public practice. A lot of
that was within the health care realm. I
did a lot of auditing and consulting with
health care related
entities and private practices.
But for the last twenty years, I've been
involved with the ASC industry and the leadership
roles. I've really fell in love with the
industry
and,
I have been able to work in a
variety of different types of ASCs to smaller
ASCs to to my current one, which is
a large ASC. We do about 15,000 cases.
We're multi specialty in Oregon and,
really love the direction that we're going.
Wonderful.
Well, let's start our conversation talking about the
ASC market. Because in The US, this is
projected to reach $60,800,000,000
by 2030,
and it continues to experience strong year over
year growth. So from your perspective, what are
the most significant trends in Market Forces driving
this expansion, and how should ASC leaders be
preparing today?
It's very exciting times, isn't it?
It's really exciting to be in the ASC
industry right now because things are evolving,
really fast.
We continue to see the shift, the procedures
from,
the
hospital setting to the outpatient setting. So the
site of care, we're seeing continually see a
a shift. We're seeing CMS
recognize the added value of aided ASCs by
adding more procedures to the covered procedure list
or continuing,
advances in technology
and techniques.
And ASCs are continuing to prove we can
do
higher acuity procedures and advanced care in a
safe and effective manner.
As far as preparing,
I think the main thing is,
ASC leaders need to stay active when within
the industry for, like, going to conferences like
this Becker's conference
is one of those. Being involved in your
state association
and the national,
ASCA association are critical.
There's a lot of information out there. They,
everybody keeps you up to date on what
is happening and what is shifting within the
industry.
And probably the last thing is, you know,
advocate for our industry. Be active and speak
with your legislators.
Make sure people are aware of
the quality care we do every single day.
You'll be amazed that a lot of people
out there don't understand or realize what we
do for our communities. And,
the constituents with our legislators, they our legislators
really need to understand that we're a vital,
role within our communities, and we provide such
an impact.
And from AI and robotic surgeries to advanced
EHR systems,
technology remains a make or break factor and
a critical driver of ASC operations at scale.
So how do you see deeper tech integration
shaping the way ASCs deliver care and manage
their business over the next few years?
It's It's another exciting component. I you know,
we are just on the surface of some
of the advances within technology and AI. And,
you know, when we look at the AI
versus robotic,
everything is happening really fast and moving forward
into the ASC environment.
I think the biggest impact it's gonna have
and deliver for us as managers of businesses
that you know, I I'm a data guy
that my background in CPA, I love data.
And so,
the AI and the EHR tools really provide
a lot of data to help us streamline
our operations and make them more efficient.
As our margins get continue to get smaller,
that's critical for our future. That way, we
are able to monitor that,
in a very,
hands on and,
active way.
As far as when we look at the
robotic surgeries, we continue to see the,
not only our joint,
robotic
programs or robotic assisted procedures, but we're also
seeing the soft tissue procedures entering the ASC
market. So that'll be interesting to see how
that gets integrated over the next five to
ten years.
And is there one technology or innovation that
stands out to you as especially transformative?
I think
we are on the cusp of understanding what
AI can do for us. That there's,
a lot of positives with AI and there's
a lot of unknowns with AI that make
it scary. So I think we're definitely on
the cusp of what could be,
very innovative
and,
helpful in our industry.
What that is, I think, that's yet to
be seen.
Well, Todd, thanks so much for joining me
today. Is there anything that we didn't touch
on or any final thoughts you'd like to
share on the podcast?
Well, again, I'd like to thank you for
having me on the podcast. I look forward
to the
the this conference every single year. I think
it provides a lot of great information and
data. It's a great network networking opportunity
to be able to be with our peers
and the vendors,
see new product line.
Probably the biggest thing I would leave is
to get back to the continue to be
active within the association,
be active within
your state associations, national, and within
your peer groups that you're able to meet
up with, like, conferences such as these. We're
a very exciting time within our industry.
We've gone through stages over the last fifty
years, but we're in the a stage right
now where we're seeing a lot of growth
and a lot of opportunity ahead.
Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for joining me
today. Again, we are recording live at the
thirty first annual business and operations of ASCs.