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forward slash beckerspodcast.

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This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare

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Podcast, and we are recording live at the

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thirty first annual business and operations of ASCs.

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I'm currently joined by Megan Friedman, who is

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the chair and medical director of Pacific Coast

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Anesthesia. Megan, thanks for being here. To kick

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us off, can you please share a little

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bit more about yourself and your work in

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the ASC space?

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Yes. Thank you for having me here.

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It's been a great conference so far. My

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name is Megan Friedman. I'm a double board

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certified anesthesiologist

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and pediatric anesthesiologist

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and also the director of Pacific Coast Anesthesia.

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We're a large independent

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anesthesia group in Southern California.

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We staff multiple

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acute care hospitals and high volume surgery centers,

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across the Los Angeles area.

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I work closely with ASC leadership,

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OR directors, and system executives to optimize staffing,

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scheduling, and throughput,

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while keeping a pulse on payer dynamics, cost

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per case, and the evolving role of anesthesia

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in outpatient care.

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My focus is bridging clinical care with operational

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strategy.

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Wonderful.

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Well, let's start our conversation

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regarding the ASC market. In The US, this

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is projected to reach $60,800,000,000

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annually

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by 2030

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and continues to experience strong year over year

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growth. So from your perspective, what are the

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most significant trends and market forces driving this

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expansion, and how should ASD leaders be preparing

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today?

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Yeah. So we're seeing three key trends. First,

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higher acuity cases are being moved from the

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hospitals to ASCs.

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Second, we're seeing payers pushing care

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towards these lower cost settings.

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And then finally,

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another thing driving cases to ASCs is we're

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seeing surgeons are increasingly seeking more control and

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efficiency in their practice.

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When you consider these,

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and keep in mind that there's increased labor,

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the cost of labor has gone up substantially,

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over the last few years as well as

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supply cost,

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ASC leaders really need to rethink staffing and

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scheduling.

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They need to use real time data to

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make decisions that prioritize case efficiency and resource

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allocation,

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not just surgeon preference

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as

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as typically done in the past.

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Underutilized

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rooms and fragmented schedules are no longer sustainable.

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And from AI and robotic surgeries to advanced

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EHR systems, technology remains both a make or

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break factor and a critical driver of ASC

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operations at scale.

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How do you see deeper tech integration shaping

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the way ASCs deliver care and manage their

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businesses over the next few years?

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So tech is gonna be a make or

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break factor, especially in how we schedule staff

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and optimize resource use.

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It's not just about the OR. Tech needs

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to help us see the full picture, cost

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per case, staffing patterns, case delays,

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and room utilization

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across service lines.

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AI and analytics can show us inefficiencies in

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real time so we can act on them,

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not just report them later.

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For me, it's about smart scheduling platforms.

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One tech that we've invested in and started

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adapting,

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was a scheduling platform called Equina.

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Platforms such as these allow anesthesia teams to

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be able to clock in, swap shifts, see

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real time coverage needs,

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and then we can track patterns,

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of staffing need across multiple sites and then

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present that to our ASC administrators.

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This kind of visibility changes everything. It improves

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transparency,

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fairness, and helps leadership

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right

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find the right size staffing

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based on actual need, not just assumptions.

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And a follow-up to that, is there one

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specific technology or innovation that stands out to

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you as especially transformative?

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So as I mentioned, we started using a

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scheduling platform towards Equina,

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and that's done a couple things for us.

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One, it's led to anesthesia provider,

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increased satisfaction.

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They feel like they have more control over

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their schedule,

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putting in requests on an app, swapping shifts.

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And then, also, it allows us to provide

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a lot of data to our hospital and

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ASC administrators.

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So we can try they we have real

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time clock ins, as I mentioned. So we

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can follow trends such as,

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if a certain person who's always at a

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particular ASC

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is always staying over a few hours.

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It can it can really show that center

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either the volume and demand for staffing is

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much higher than they thought,

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or on the flip side, is it because

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it's very inefficient?

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So these things have been very transformative in

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helping us with having data to show to

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people.

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And with 60% of health systems considering ASC

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joint ventures and many ASCs already partnering with

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systems in their communities, what opportunities do you

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see for collaboration, whether with other providers or

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vendors, to strengthen the patient care and operational

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efficiency?

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Collaboration's gonna be key, especially as more ASCs

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enter joint ventures with health systems.

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The opportunity lies in aligning around shared metrics,

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throughput, staffing efficiency, and financial sustainability,

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not just volume.

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That means deeper partnerships with anesthesia,

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and anesthesia teams.

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The anesthesia groups that are fully integrated into

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scheduling, case planning, and strategic conversations

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will deliver better outcomes,

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lower cost per case, and help reduce friction

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across,

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key players.

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And is there anything else that we didn't

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touch on as we wrap up our conversation

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or any final thoughts you'd like to share?

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Yes. If there's one message I'd emphasize for

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executives,

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anesthesia needs to be at the table.

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We see everything, every surgeon, every room, every

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staff member, every delay, every inefficiency.

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In today's margin tight environment, you can't afford

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to ignore that perspective.

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If you're only focused on staffing costs, but

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not looking at k cost per case, case

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mix,

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scheduling dynamics, and other things, you're gonna fall

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behind.

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Real partnership with anesthesia teams is not a

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luxury. It's your competitive edge.

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Wonderful. Well, Megan, thanks so much for joining

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me today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast and

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sharing these insights. Again, we are recording live

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at the thirty first annual business and operations

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of ASCs.

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Thank you so much.