As ASC platforms settle into 2026, the next phase of value creation is coming into focus.
Two leaders in the ASC space recently joined Becker’s to share their visions for what will create growth for ASCs this year.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What do you see as ASCs’ biggest opportunity for growth in 2026?
Rhett Barker. CEO of AlloDirect: Here’s what I think is actually happening: The big rollups we saw in 2024 and 2025 bought scale and market position, but they didn’t necessarily buy supply-chain margin. Now those platforms are in the “second bite of the apple” phase, where the real value creation is in capturing procurement savings and operational efficiency across their footprint. Supply chain is the most obvious place to do that.
The centers that will win are those that can move higher-acuity cases outpatient while keeping the unit economics tight, especially in ortho and spine. That means you need visibility into what you’re actually spending per case, discipline around implant standardization, and access to transparent, competitive sourcing for things like allografts, where waste is real and consolidation opportunity is massive.
For ASC leaders thinking about this: audit your highest-cost categories, build true episode-of-care visibility, and ask hard questions about whether your current vendor relationships are actually serving your economics or just your convenience. The platforms that get disciplined about supply-chain modernization in early 2026 will have a structural cost advantage heading into any next round of consolidation.
Joe White. CEO and Founder of Sendit Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.): The biggest opportunity is margin recovery through operational discipline, not just growth in cases. Labor remains the largest expense for ASCs, and while we’re starting to see some stabilization, the real upside comes from using technology to reduce friction across scheduling, staffing, RCM, and payer interaction.
The most successful ASCs in 2026 will treat backend operations as a revenue strategy- tightening authorization workflows, improving collections velocity, and using data to optimize staffing and block utilization. With outpatient demand naturally shifting into ASCs, the opportunity is no longer just to grow volume, but to absorb that demand efficiently, fill capacity intelligently, and improve both patient and physician satisfaction. Location and expansion still matter, but growth will increasingly favor centers that can convert inbound demand into predictable throughput and clean reimbursement, rather than simply chasing more cases.
