As part of National ASC Month, we invited David Shapiro, MD, to talk about the evolution of surgery centers, the critical need for ASCA members to participate in ASC advocacy and the outlook for the future of the surgery center community. David is a member of the ASCA Board and a past president of the association. He is also an anesthesiologist with extensive experience in surgery center management and has been actively involved in multiple ASC-related organizations and advocacy efforts.

On this week’s audio update, ASCA’s past president Rebecca Craig, RN, CASC, talks about how she and her staff at Harmony Surgery Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, rely on patient satisfaction surveys to constantly improve their patients’ experiences. Rebecca also shares her experience implementing the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) Survey and some important advice to ensure your ASC is ready for the January 2025 requirement.

On this week’s audio update, ASCA Board Secretary Rena Courtay, MBA, BSN, RN, CASC, talks about her visit to the new One World Surgery clinic and surgery center in the Dominican Republic. One World Surgery is a US-based nonprofit that conducts weeklong medical missions at its facilities in Honduras and the Dominican Republic. For the past eight years, the ASCA Foundation has provided financial support to One World Surgery, including a scholarship program for ASCA volunteers. ASCA members have participated in a number of their missions, bringing together clinical participants, nonclinical participants and family members to perform life-changing surgeries—free of cost—for local residents in need.

On this week’s audio update, ASCA Immediate Past President Mandy Hawkins is joined by ASCA Board Member Alfonso del Granado for a short discussion about the association’s ASC Administrator Development Program. Mandy and Alfonso have both served as mentors in the program. They take this opportunity to discuss the roles of both mentors and mentees, the yearlong course curriculum, enrollment qualifications, and the current application period, which remains open only until July 31, 2024.

This week, ASCA CEO Bill Prentice and ASCA Chief Advocacy Officer Kara Newbury discuss highlights of the 2025 proposed payment rule for ASCs and hospital outpatient departments (HOPD) released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 10. In their brief discussion, Bill and Kara report on the inflation update factor projected for ASCs in 2025, new requirements for the ASC Quality Reporting Program that could be implemented and new procedures CMS proposed for addition to the ASC Covered Procedures List.

This week’s audio update features Becky Ziegler-Otis, CASC, who recently completed a term on the ASCA Board of Directors and presently serves as assistant executive director of the ASC Quality Collaboration (ASCQC), the only organization dedicated exclusively to advancing patient safety and quality of care delivery in ASCs. Becky talks about the ASCQC’s recent launch of its new ASC Safety & Quality Assessment, a short but indispensable survey that will allow surgery centers to confidentially assess their performance and compare it to other surgery centers in their peer group.

This week, ASCA CEO Bill Prentice discusses the ASC performance ratings that U.S. News & World Report announced in May. ASCA has had ongoing discussions with the magazine’s ratings team about this first report. Most recently, ASCA and ASC Quality Collaboration Executive Director Kathy Wilson met with the team in mid-June to share concerns about the methodology used, inaccuracies in the data and ways to improve the ability of individual ASCs to respond to future ratings before they are published.

This week, ASCA Director of Communications Kay Tucker talks about ASCA’s media relations, publications, outbound communications and member communications resources—all of which are designed to educate patients and the public about surgery centers and keep ASCA members fully informed on developments in healthcare, regulatory and public policy, and upcoming ASCA events. Tune in to learn more about ASCA’s communications efforts and the tools and resources available for members.

ASCA Government Affairs Manager Maia Kunkel talks about preparing for National ASC Month, which is less than two months away, starting August 1. Maia discusses how individual ASCs can get involved in promotional activities, including media outreach, social media posts, and facility tours for state and federal elected officials. In under six minutes, learn how Maia and ASCA can help you plan now for a successful month of promoting the benefits of your ASC.

ASCA Assistant Director of Government Affairs Stephen Abresch provides a short summary of some of the more pressing issues he and several state ASC associations are currently monitoring in state legislatures around the country. Mostly, he focuses on legislation that would limit or restrict facility fees, change certificate of need policies, add new licensure requirements to certain ASCs, and place new conditions on ASC acquisitions and ownership by hedge funds and private equity investors. While the issues Stephen talks about may be specific to a handful of states today, it’s not uncommon to see policy ideas spread from state to state or even to the federal level—and why ASCA continues to work closely with state ASC associations across the country to stay on top of both the challenges and opportunities these issues present.