Author: Nikhil Gaikwad

For years, I thought the biggest constraint in our orthopedic practice was capacity. I was wrong. Imagine it’s Sunday afternoon, and you’re sitting in the ER with your mother, who fell walking down the stairs. The physician tells you she…

For many ambulatory surgery center leaders, anesthesia has quietly become the fault line where financial and clinical realities intersect. What was once a stable, predictable service line is now one of the most dynamic sources of both risk and opportunity.…

As ophthalmology practices continue to grow — particularly in high-volume procedures like cataract surgery — administrative workflows are increasingly becoming a constraint on operational scale. Insurance eligibility and benefits verification remains one of the most critical yet labor-intensive revenue cycle…

Revenue cycle performance has always been central to ASC financial health. What’s changing is the level of complexity surrounding it. Rising case acuity, tighter payer scrutiny, and expanding administrative requirements are placing new pressure on business offices that were originally…

Ken Takenaka, M.Ed., ATC, OTC, BCS-O, is director of operations at Orthopedic + Fracture Specialists (Portland, Ore.). In this Q&A, Ken shares how his team rebuilt their surgery scheduling process, improved visibility into their backlog and bottlenecks, and increased throughput,…

In 2025, the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) market continued to solidify its role as a core site of care for elective and increasingly complex outpatient procedures. Growth was driven by steady operator expansion, ongoing industry consolidation, and favorable regulatory tailwinds.…