From increased procedure complexity to surgical robots, six ASC leaders joined Becker's to discuss what they're most excited about in regards to ASC success in 2025.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What excites you the most about ASC's potential success in 2025?
Frank Garofalo. Administrator of Providence Summit Surgery Center (Santa Clarita, Calif.): Increasing the capacity and complexity of current surgical cases in the ASC environment. We always look forward to increasing specialty cases and implementing newer technologies to improve efficiencies and opportunities to serve patients in a higher capacity.
Barbara Graves. Administrator of Greater Cleveland (Ohio) Hospital's The Surgery Center: Our people — our surgeons, our anesthesia team and our staff are amazing. The physicians appreciate the quality of care provided, coupled with our desire to provide an atmosphere where on time starts, minimal time between cases and a knowledgeable operating room team are all focused on the same goal.
Amanda Henshaw. Administrator of Advent Health Surgery Center Blue Springs (Fla.): What excites me most about ASCs' potential for success this year is the opportunity to expand our service lines, increase cost efficiency, and enhance the overall patient experience. At AdventHealth Surgery Center Blue Springs, we are a multispecialty facility, performing everything from cataract surgeries to total joint procedures. We recently acquired the Depuy Velys robot to perform robotic-assisted total knee replacements, a significant milestone in growing our total joint program and a thrilling way to start 2025. Additionally, we take pride in being more cost-effective than hospitals, offering our local patients’ better rates thanks to our lower overhead and streamlined services. This allows us to provide high-quality care at a more affordable price, which is appealing not only to our patients but also to insurers. Finally, ASCs like ours offer superior efficiency for patients compared to hospitals, providing greater convenience, faster recovery times, and better overall care for those undergoing outpatient surgery.
Jay Raifman. Administrator of Lynbrook (N.Y.) Surgery Center: I am fortunate to have an authentic, dedicated, caring team of over 55 clinical and nonclinal support staff including a management team second to none — no easy feat, by the way. We are cohesive, we support one another and sincerely enjoy working together. All of this translates into superior patient outcomes. As a result, we've also enjoyed many achievements along the way, like U.S. News & World Report's "2024 Ratings of Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers" — 1 of 6 in New York (out of 5,000 nationwide) — to make the list. What excites me is how we can take it up a notch to see what we can achieve together in 2025.
Cara Roeck. Administrator of Surgery Center of Aventura (Fla.): The continued shift of complex procedures to the outpatient setting is incredibly exciting. Advances in minimally invasive techniques and anesthesia have made it possible to perform surgeries in ASCs that were once limited to hospitals. This not only reduces costs but also improves patient satisfaction with shorter recovery times and lower infection rates. Additionally, the emphasis on value-based care aligns perfectly with the ASC model, positioning us to be leaders in healthcare delivery. I'm particularly enthusiastic about expanding our service lines and embracing emerging technologies such as robotics and AI-driven analytics to enhance patient outcomes and optimize operations.
Allison Schoenfuss, RN. Administrator of Atrium Health Surgery Center Rock Hill (S.C.): Our ASC is owned by a large hospital in this region. We are seeing increased efforts from them to move appropriate cases to our facility to make room for hospitals to accommodate higher acuity surgeries.