Advancing Surgical Care Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

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.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with Deb Yoder, RN, CASC, vice president of clinical operations for Surgical Management Professionals, about the critical steps and considerations involved in constructing and opening a new ASC. Yoder is an accomplished nurse with frontline experience in operating rooms, cardiac catheterization labs, intensive care and surgery centers. In her current position, she is responsible for overseeing the design and construction of new ASCs and has assisted in developing and equipping 13 new facilities. This highly informative discussion covers architectural and regulatory pre- and post-planning, construction management and how to prepare a new facility for a successful opening.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with orthopedic surgeon and ASCA Board member David Weinstein, MD, about performing outpatient total shoulder surgeries in both hospitals and ASCs.

Tens of thousands of patients with commercial insurance undergo safe, effective total shoulder surgeries in ASCs each year, saving themselves and their insurers millions of dollars. Yet the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has refused to extend its insurance coverage to ASCs—the less costly site of care and the one that most patients prefer. Dr. Weinstein discusses several clinical studies that include findings that support making this change, as well as his own experience performing thousands of shoulder surgeries, in this compelling case for finally allowing Medicare patients the same choice that private pay patients enjoy today.

Dr. Weinstein is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he completed his residency in orthopedic surgery, as well as an associate clinical professor at the University of Colorado Department of Orthopedics in Denver.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice speaks with SCA Health Vice President for Talent Management Vicki Heinz about the importance of creating a culture of inclusion among ASC staff. In a conversation recorded live following Heinz’s presentation on that same topic at ASCA 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky, this past spring, Prentice and Heinz discuss how a culture of inclusion has become a vital part of an organization’s ability to recruit and retain a talented workforce, particularly among younger workers. In explaining why employers should measure their progress and be prepared to overcome resistance to change, Heinz also describes how the right inclusion practices can improve an organization’s performance and add to its bottom line.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, Mandy Hawkins, CASC, CAIP, president of the ASCA Board, talks with Debra Stinchcomb, CASC, president of the Board of Ambulatory Surgery Certification (BASC), regarding the Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC) credential and the Certified Ambulatory Infection Preventionist (CAIP) credential for ASC administrators and senior staff.  In this timely and important presentation, Mandy and Debra discuss upcoming enrollment periods for both certifications, the course curriculums, fees, renewals and how both certifications can benefit ASC personnel interested in advancing their careers in the ASC community.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice talks with nimble solutions Chief Executive Officer Nader Samii during a break at ASCA’s annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky, this past May. Prentice invited Samii, whose company was the platinum sponsor of this year’s event, to join him in a discussion about the current market conditions he is seeing across the ASC community, as well as the increasing investment occurring in emerging technologies such as robotics. Prentice and Samii also talk about the rebranding of National Medical Billing Services to nimble solutions and the services the new company can provide to ASCs.

With the demand for outpatient surgery on the rise, forecasters are concerned about the future supply of physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Board President Mandy Hawkins talks with David Acosta, MD, the chief diversity and inclusion officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Their wide-ranging conversation looks at the need for a larger, more representative healthcare workforce that can meet the demands of our nation’s aging and increasingly diverse population. It also addresses the makeup of current medical school admissions, the need to raise awareness about medical careers in primary and secondary schools, new initiatives that target disadvantaged communities and the need for additional government support for medical education and training.

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, Kara Newbury, ASCA regulatory counsel and director of government affairs, leads a discussion about the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act of 2023 (H.R. 972/S.312) with her colleagues David Opong-Wadee, ASCA manager of legislative and political affairs, and Maia Kunkel, ASCA manager of government affairs. The episode provides a summary of the key provisions of the legislation and the ways it would benefit both patients and ASCs. It also looks at the Washington, DC, fly-in and lobbying event conducted February 28 and March 1 this year as part of ASCA’s 2023 National Advocacy Day. Seventy ASCA members from 31 states met with members of Congress and their staff to discuss ASCA’s legislative goals and the many ways ASCs serve their constituents and communities. 

In this episode of the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice sits down with surgery center payment policy expert Naya Kehayes for an informative discussion about the migration of surgical codes from the inpatient-only list to the list of procedures Medicare will reimburse in hospital outpatient departments (HOPD) and onto the ASC Covered Procedures List (ASC-CPL). They discuss a wide range of topics, including recent migration trends, future code migration (including orthopedic and cardiovascular procedures) and ASCA’s continuing efforts to make the approval process at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services more transparent. Naya is a partner and the ASC Practice Leader for ECG Management Consultants and has more than 30 years of professional experience in healthcare. She is a trusted adviser to ASCA on a wide range of issues, particularly in matters before the federal agencies that oversee surgery centers, and a member of ASCA’s Government Affairs Committee.