Advancing Surgical Care Podcast

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice and Alberto Ardon, MD, president of the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA), discuss their collaboration to address the current anesthesia provider shortage and plans for the ASCA + SAMBA Conference & Expo, May 13–16 in Washington, DC. 

 As ASCA members are acutely aware, the healthcare system is currently facing a significant shortage of anesthesia providers. While ASCA has always maintained strong relationships with other professional medical organizations, including those representing the anesthesia community, the urgency of today’s shortage has raised the stakes and the importance of greater collaboration between surgery centers and the anesthesiologists who practice in them. 

Tune in to learn more about efforts to relieve the current shortage of anesthesia providers as well as the first-of-its-kind joint annual conference. Visit the ASCA + SAMBA 2026 website to see the full conference schedule.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Beth LaBouyer, executive director of the California Ambulatory Surgery Association (CASA), about her impending retirement at the end of this year. LaBouyer started her career in nursing, then worked as an ASC administrator and served as a CASA volunteer, ultimately joining the CASA board and becoming the organization’s first executive director. Over the next 21 years, she built and grew CASA into one of the premier state ASC associations in the country. In this poignant conversation, she shares her approach to leadership and advocacy, her thoughts about the future challenges and opportunities in the ASC community—at both the state and federal levels—the advent of artificial intelligence in ASCs, and more.

In this episode of ASCA’s Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, “Integrating EHRs in ASCs,” ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Illinois Ambulatory Surgery Center Association President Melissa Rice about procuring and implementing electronic health records (EHR) in the ASC setting. Rice is the administrator of Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Terrace in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois—a member of Trinity Health—and has a wealth of knowledge about EHRs and fostering their adoption in ASCs.

In celebration of National ASC Month this August, the latest episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast offers a quick, 10-minute overview of the valuable resources available to help spotlight both individual surgery centers and the ASC community as a whole.

Tune in to hear ASCA Government Affairs Manager Maia Kunkel discuss National ASC Month activities, including how to coordinate surgery center tours with elected officials and how to participate in ASCA’s National Advocacy Day—an annual event where ASCA members travel to Washington, DC, to advocate for ASCs on Capitol Hill. 

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with employment law expert Salvatore Puccio, partner at Garfunkel Wild, a law firm that specializes in addressing regulatory and business challenges in the healthcare industry. Prentice and Puccio discuss a wide range of workplace issues, including advice on how to maintain workplace harmony, conduct proper employee performance evaluations, approach disciplinary actions and more.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Naya Kehayes about her presentation “Pro Tips for Successful ASC Payer Contract Negotiations” at ASCA’s annual conference in Denver this past May. Kehayes, a national speaker on ASC business strategy and current member of the ASCA Government Affairs Committee, covers highlights from her presentation and provides practical and insightful advice that can benefit every ASC. 

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.

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.

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.

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.