Narrator
Welcome to the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast, brought to you by ASCA, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. ASCA represents the interests of outpatient surgery centers of every specialty and provides advocacy and resources to assist them in providing safe, high-quality, cost-effective patient care. As with all of ASCA’s communications, please check to make sure you are listening to or viewing our most up-to-date podcast and announcements.
Bill Prentice
Hello and welcome to the podcast. I’m ASCA’s CEO Bill Prentice. In a moment, I’ll be joined by ASCA president, Todd Currier. Todd took office as president at our annual meeting this past spring, and I thought ASCA members would appreciate learning more about Todd and his aspirations for ASCA and for the ASC community. But before I bring Todd into the conversation, I want to share some of Todd’s background. He began his career as a certified public accountant near his hometown in Bend, Oregon, and one of his clients at that time was the Bend Surgery Center. Todd was intrigued by the ASC model, and the owners at Bend Surgery were impressed by his skills, and they offered him the position of chief financial officer. After a few years, Todd began to explore other opportunities in the ASC world and accepted a position as administrator of a surgery center in Wyoming. Spent a decade in that position, helped start a de novo center in Montana, and worked for a short time as a regional administrator. As fate would have it, the administrator position at the Bend Surgery Center opened up, and Todd was eager to return back home. So after becoming involved in ASCA in 2007, Todd immersed himself in advocacy initiatives, conferences, and state associational leadership, serving on both the Wyoming and Oregon boards. His longstanding commitment to the organization culminated in his election to the ASCA board in 2023. He later served as treasurer and was ultimately elected president by his fellow board members. With all that, I’d please have him join me here on the podcast. Hi, Todd.
Todd Currier
Wow, that’s quite an introduction, Bill. I feel like half my life story is flashing before my eyes. It’s great to talk to you today.
Bill Prentice
Great. I know from our earliest conversations that a big part of what drew you to ASCA was the advocacy work that we do on behalf of our members before Congress, the many federal agencies we interact with, and the work we do in the states. In particular, you’ve been one of the most successful fundraisers for ASCAPAC, our political action committee. Why don’t you begin by talking about why you decided to seek the presidency of ASCA and what your aspirations for ASCA’s advocacy efforts in the foreseeable future are?
Todd Currier
Those are great questions. Service has always been part of who I am. I was raised to always find ways to serve our community in some manner, whether it’s coaching youth sports, volunteering for nonprofits, or serving on their boards. I’ve always been part of some sort of service organization. And now I’m excited to be part of helping serve our industry through ASCA. I still remember walking into my first ASCA conference. I was looking for answers to challenges we were facing in our surgery center. But what I found was something much bigger than that: a community of people who are willing to share their ideas, mentor others, and help each other succeed. Serving as president of this association just felt like a natural way to give back to an organization that has given so much to me. Now about advocacy. Advocacy has always been one of the primary reasons I’ve been involved with ASCA, as you mentioned. I love what ASCs do for our patients, our communities, and overall health system. And I want to be part of the process to ensure we safeguard our industry. The reality is that decisions made in Washington, D.C. by CMS and state legislators directly impact every surgery center in the country. If we want our industry to continue growing and providing outstanding care, we must have a strong, effective voice at those tables. That means fighting for fair reimbursement, reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, expanding the procedures eligible for ASC settings, and ensuring policymakers understand the tremendous value ASCs provide. And honestly, that’s not something the staff or board can do by themselves. Advocacy works best when our members get involved and share their stories. It requires engaged members. I encourage every ASC leader and physician to participate in our grassroots advocacy efforts, contribute to ASCAPAC if you can, and help tell the ASC story. When policymakers hear directly from their constituents who are delivering care in their communities, our voice becomes much more powerful. I’ve had the opportunity to participate in fly-ins and advocacy meetings over the years, and one thing I’ve learned is that facts and data matter, like the recently published report showing ASCs are projected to save Medicare $85 billion over the next decade. But stories matter even more. When you can explain how a policy affects a patient in your community or an employee on your team, that’s when people really start to listen. That’s what really excites me about advocacy.
Bill Prentice
Todd, that was an excellent encapsulation of everything we’re trying to do with our members and encouraging our members to do. I think you are an inspiration to the listeners out there, that you can be just a member of the association, decide to dig in and get involved at both the state and the federal level, and rise up and be in a position to do great things for the ASC community. So I want to thank you for that. But we need to take a short break to hear a few words from our podcast sponsor before we get back to this conversation. So please stand by and we’ll be right back.
Narrator
This recording is being brought to you by Surgery Partners, a leading owner and operator of ambulatory surgery centers with more than 200 locations nationwide. Surgery Partners collaborates with ASC leaders and physicians to acquire, develop, and optimize surgery center operations and helps ASCs scale efficiently, strengthen performance, and drive long-term growth. To learn more, visit SurgeryPartners.com.
Bill Prentice
Todd, as an administrator, you confront the same challenges as every other ASCA member in terms of staffing concerns, dealing with anesthesia, inflationary pressures, and the whole gamut. This past year, under your and the ASCA board’s leadership, we initiated greater collaboration with anesthesia providers and worked to make ASCA’s educational and benchmarking services easier for our members to use. In the year ahead, where do you think ASCA could be most helpful and add the most value to our members in their day-to-day operations?
Todd Currier
You’re right, Bill. As an administrator, I do face the same challenges our members face every day. That’s why I think ASCA creates the most value when we help our members solve real-world problems, not just theoretical ones. As you mentioned, the progress that we’ve made with benchmarking, high-performing organizations make decisions based off of data. And benchmarking allows our members to compare performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and learn from top performers in our industry. Overall, I do like how we’re collaborating with our anesthesia providers. The anesthesia shortage affects all of our centers, and working together to better understand and address those challenges benefits everyone involved.
Bill Prentice
I was just going to say, I think one of the things we realize is that these are big problems that have popped up over a long period of time, and it’s going to take a long time to get at them. So it’s going to be something we’re going to be working on for a number of years trying to deal with some of these big challenges. But eating an elephant, you got to start with one bite, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
Todd Currier
I agree completely, Bill. These aren’t issues that we can solve overnight. But we can start the process and hopefully create a better future ahead.
Bill Prentice
So, Todd, artificial intelligence, or AI, offerings are everywhere, including at the doorstep of every surgery center nowadays. Earlier this year, you and the board formed an AI working group that you serve on. My first question is, how do you see AI impacting surgery centers, both in terms of risks and rewards? And then secondly, where do you think ASCA can be most helpful to surgery centers that are beginning to adopt both administrative and clinical AI applications?
Todd Currier
I’ll be honest, I’m fascinated by AI right now. And I am really looking at the risk side of things too. I think we all need to be cautious about the real risks out there that need to be managed carefully. When we look at data privacy, cybersecurity, accuracy, bias, regulatory compliance issues, I think we all need to stay focused on the fact that AI should just be a tool to help support our decision making, not necessarily replace professional judgment. That’s why I’m excited about the ASCA board’s creation of the AI Working Group. We recognize this technology is evolving rapidly, and our members are looking for trusted guidance. ASCA can play a critical role by helping members understand both the opportunities and risks, offering education, best practices, and helping create opportunities for peer collaboration to help our members evaluate AI solutions in a practical and responsible way.
Bill Prentice
Which is going to be so important both today and in the years ahead. And that’s something that I think through our education and the training that we offer to our members, we’re going to be sharing a lot more about artificial intelligence on all the issues that you just raised, because it is going to be a big challenge for administrators to figure out the right path forward with all these products being put in front of them to supposedly fix different problems in the surgery center and make things more efficient. But there are downside risks to a lot of them if they’re done poorly. And I think that’s where we can be of great help, if we can help educate our folks to ask the right questions when talking to these vendors. So, Todd, let’s talk about the future outlook for surgery centers. Despite some of the headwinds that we’ve touched on, and there are many of them, I know that you’re very bullish about the future of the surgery center model. Can you share with us the basis for that opinion?
Todd Currier
You’re right. I’m all in for ASCs and our future. When you look at what patients want and what healthcare needs, one, better outcomes; two, lower costs; and three, greater convenience, ASCs deliver at all three of those levels. I’m optimistic. One of the reasons I’m optimistic is because of the people in our industry. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you never bet against ASC leaders, because every major challenge is faced with resiliency and innovation, and we’re able to tackle those challenges. Finally, I’m optimistic because of the ASCA staff. ASCA has an exceptional staff. We have dedicated volunteers, and we really have engaged members with a clear mission. And overall, when you combine talented people, strong leadership, and a commitment to continuous improvement, the future is bright.
Bill Prentice
Thank you for those kind words about the staff. I will tell you that having the great fortune to lead that team, I think this is the strongest staff we’ve ever had at ASCA in my 15 years. And that, combined with the great perspective of the ASCA board, and we’ve been blessed with great volunteers through my entire tenure who’ve helped to really guide this association, we make sure that we’re focused on the right things for our members. Again, we’re small, we have limited resources, these challenges are big, but I think everyone has to see that we’re focused on the right things on behalf of our members and not wasting resources. So, Todd, any final words or thoughts you’d like to share with our ASCA members?
Todd Currier
I think if there’s one thing I want every member listening today to remember, it’s that ASCA belongs to you. Whether you’ve been involved for 20 years or just joined last month, your voice really matters. ASCA’s strength has never come from one president, one board member, or one staff leader. It comes from the collective expertise, passion, and commitment of its members. When I first became involved in ASCA in 2007, I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to serve as president. And if there’s one thing my journey has taught me, it’s that this association creates opportunities for people who are willing to get involved, learn, and contribute. So I’m living proof of that. I’m very grateful for this opportunity and incredibly excited about where our industry is headed.
Bill Prentice
There’s nothing truer than your experience in terms of getting involved and then being able to make a difference. And everyone listening to this podcast has that same opportunity. So I hope people will take that to heart and choose to get involved, whether with ASCA at the federal level, serving on one of our committees, and maybe eventually the board, or just weighing in when we’re seeking feedback or comments on things we’re doing. Or just as importantly, getting involved at the state level. So many of the things that are impacting ASCs at the federal level are mirrored or even sometimes amplified by things happening at the state level in terms of state regulation and state law. So we need active involvement at that level as well. So I hope the message of this podcast that you so incredibly explained is: get involved, be part of the solution. So, Todd, again, thanks for coming on the podcast. I’m sure we’ll have you back again during your tenure. And thank you for the countless number of volunteer hours you’ve contributed so far to ASCA, as well as the ones I’m sure we’re going to be making you volunteer in the future. We appreciate your leadership and your friendship.
Todd Currier
Thanks a lot, Bill. I appreciate it.
Bill Prentice
So before concluding, I would like to acknowledge the support of our podcast sponsor, Surgery Partners, a leading operator of surgical facilities and ancillary services with more than 200 locations in 33 states. Surgery Partners offers multiple types of healthcare services that deliver high-quality health care in a convenient and cost-effective manner. To learn more, visit SurgeryPartners.com.