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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Robert Saltaformaggio, senior counsel at Liles Parker, a Washington, DC-based law firm that focuses on regulatory healthcare compliance and reimbursement issues. Saltaformaggio is also a certified professional coder who assists ASCs and other healthcare providers with Medicare and Medicaid payer coverage and payment requirements, as well as claims disputes with major payers such as the various Blue Cross Blue Shield entities and UnitedHealthcare. During their discussion, Prentice and Saltaformaggio talk about the current regulatory landscape, the role of AI, the importance of conducting self-audits and more.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice is joined by HST Pathways Chief Executive Officer David Thawley for an in-depth discussion about the company’s recently released State of the Industry Report: Best Practices & Industry Benchmarks for Optimizing ASC Operations. Prentice and Thawley discuss several of the trends in ASC care and management in 2024, including specializations on the rise, operating room efficiencies, revenue cycle management and a host of best practices that emerged from examining the operational data and reporting of 590 ASCs across 47 states.

To access a free copy of the report, visit the HST Pathways website.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice and ASCA Chief Advocacy Officer Kara Newbury preview ASCA’s public policy priorities for 2025, including improved Medicare reimbursement for ASCs, additions to the ASC Covered Procedures List (ASC-CPL) and removal of several ASC Quality Reporting Program measures. During their discussion, Prentice and Newbury talk in detail about positively positioning ASCs for the current national political environment, where overall health spending reductions and regulatory reform are already taking precedence in the new Congress and administration.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA President Mark Wainner discusses the current shortage of anesthesia providers confronting ASC operators with Alfonso del Granado, ASCA Board member and administrator of Covenant High Plains Surgery Centers in Lubbock, Texas.

Del Granado shares some of the management techniques he employs to better use anesthesia providers within the facilities he oversees. Chief among the recommendations that del Granado makes are some detailed examples of how to efficiently schedule anesthesia providers, as well as managing a profitable mix of patients who have commercial or government insurance.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with ASCA Chief Advocacy Officer Kara Newbury about the 2025 final ASC payment rule that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released November 1. Bill and Kara discuss the results of the annual rulemaking process on the ASC Covered Procedures List (ASC-CPL), the inflationary adjustment and reimbursements for specific surgical procedures, and ASC quality reporting requirements for the coming year. They also consider ways the recent presidential and congressional elections and the impending change in the administration could impact surgery centers.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Advocacy Officer Kara Newbury leads a discussion with Dr. David Kenigsberg, a Florida-based clinical cardiac electrophysiologist and a member of ASCA’s Cardiovascular Working Group. This short but insightful program focuses on the kinds of cardiovascular procedures that are being safely performed in the outpatient setting today as well as ASCA’s efforts to persuade the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to add additional cardiovascular procedures to its ASC Covered Procedures List.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Immediate Past President Mandy Hawkins, RN, CASC, CAIP, leads a discussion with Press Ganey Emerging Markets President Bob McSweeney and Director of Health Policy Eme Augustine about the challenges and opportunities confronting ASCs administering the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) Survey. With the mandatory January 2025 start date for this postoperative patient survey looming and the threat of a reduction in Medicare reimbursement facing ASCs that fail to comply, this highly informative podcast offers both practical advice and strong words of encouragement for ASCs to start administering the OAS CAHPS Survey today.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Will Evans, senior director of data science & insights at HST Pathways, following Evans’s presentation at ASCA 2024 in Orlando, Florida, earlier this year. Evans explains how even small, standalone surgery centers can capture and analyze data to improve their financial performance and patient outcomes. He also offers practical advice for sharing performance data with ASC personnel in nonthreatening and constructive ways.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Debbie Mack, RN, CAIP, a leading infection prevention (IP) educator and consultant, following an IP session Mack presented at the ASCA 2024 Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida.

Beginning with the ongoing training a surgery center’s infection preventionist should seek each year and the need to document that training, Mack and Prentice talk through a list of key elements a comprehensive IP program should include. They also discuss ways to make compliance easier and the workplace culture needed to support a holistic program. Their conversation ends with a discussion about the Certified Ambulatory Infection Preventionist (CAIP) credential, the credibility the credential confers on credential holders and the valuable ASC-specific IP study materials available on the CAIP website.

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In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with attorney Sal Puccio during the ASCA 2024 Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida, to discuss a range of human resources issues facing ASCs today. Puccio is widely regarded as an expert on ASC employment practices and his presentations at ASCA events are well-regarded by ASCA members. He is a partner at the law firm Garfunkel Wild and a member of the firm’s employment law, litigation and healthcare groups, among others. His practice focuses primarily on advising and counseling healthcare providers on their day-to-day business operations, with extensive experience in counseling clients concerning the employer-employee relationship, as well as complex commercial litigation matters.