Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Interview with Bob Bishop, Chief Designer at JointSpace

Date: December 14, 2025
Host: Becker’s Healthcare (Jeremy)
Guest: Bob Bishop, Chief Designer, JointSpace

Episode Overview

This episode features an engaging conversation with Bob Bishop, Chief Designer at JointSpace, at the 31st Annual Business and Operations of ASCs Conference. The central theme centers on how advancements in knowledge—particularly around technology such as AI, blockchain, and connectivity—are transforming the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) landscape. Bishop draws on personal and professional experiences to discuss the evolution of the ASC industry, emerging technologies, and the imperative to restore direct relationships between patients and healthcare providers by reimagining operational and data paradigms.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Personal History and ASC Experience

• Early Roots in Ambulation and Surgery
  • Bishop shares his lifelong connection to the ASC space, starting with family experiences in the 1950s and evolving into a career focused on ambulatory surgery and technological innovation.
  • Quote:
    • "I've literally been involved with ambulation and surgery for 65 years now...I've been deeply involved both with family results as well as I got involved scientifically and entrepreneurially involved in this whole space for a long, long time." (00:50)

2. Drivers of ASC Market Expansion

• Exponential Growth Fueled by Knowledge and Tech
  • Bishop attributes the ASC market's projected $60.8B growth to exponential advancements in knowledge and technology, particularly digital and computer-related innovations.
  • He challenges the typical physical definition of ASC, reframing it as "changing the ambulation of the patient."
  • Quote:
    • "We now know what we know and we know why we know it in ways that are exponentially growing. And that is the driver for why we are now labeling what we say as an asc." (01:56)

3. Technology Integration and Its Impact

• Connectivity and Ubiquitous Computing

  • Emphasizes that powerful tech—cloud, AI, mobile, and satellite internet—is omnipresent, driving faster innovation and deeper integration in surgical environments.
  • Quote:
    • "The connectivity of the power of silicon calculations...is everywhere all the time now. And that's the primary driver of what is changing things so quickly." (03:21)

• Blockchain as a Game Changer

  • Zero-knowledge blockchain platforms poised to overhaul security, privacy, and operational transparency in ASCs.
  • Uses a historical analogy, comparing digital X-ray adoption to the transformative potential of distributed and encrypted information systems.
  • "Those technologies that they're actually delivering turned metal—that's been around for nearly 100 years...It's only the technology of the capture of that operating environment and its improvement that has become difficult. This will help resolve that in a massive way." (08:56)
  • Predicts impact: breaking current monopoly power structures (Stryker, Zimmer, DePuy, etc.), transforming economics and supply chains of orthopedics and ASCs.

4. Blockchain Demystified

• Analogy for General Understanding
  • Bishop explains blockchain technology using the metaphor of an old savings passbook and safety deposit boxes, making it accessible for non-technical listeners.
  • Quote:
    • "It's simply a ledger. But what's different is that it's digital. That's not magical. But what gets magical is that it's encrypted..." (09:55)
  • Memorable Moment:
    • When asked if blockchain is like needing two keys to launch nuclear missiles:
      • "You got it. Just like if you were watching. Exactly. Denzel Washington. That's what you're thinking. Yeah, exactly. That's it." (11:37)

5. Collaboration, Intermediaries, and Patient–Provider Relationships

• Restoring Direct Relationships
  • Critiques the proliferation of intermediaries in healthcare and bemoans the complexity patients now face compared to earlier eras of direct doctor-patient trust.
  • Modern technology, particularly Web3 and blockchain, offers a path back to direct, efficient, and confidential communication between providers and patients.
  • Quote:
    • "What I want to do is get all those people out from in between the surgeon and the patient...That's what's changed is that at this point, there are so many players entailed in having a simple conversation." (12:16)
  • Explains the administrative burden and confusion for both parties, especially related to payment and insurance.
  • "We need to find ways to remove all of those intermediaries. And that's what I think the massive opportunity of the technology change that's beginning to happen is—we're going back to that possibility again where we can reinitiate a relationship between the patient and the doctor." (13:46)

6. Vision, Ethical Concerns, and Optimism

• Unstoppable Growth of Knowledge: A Double-Edged Sword
  • Bishop is optimistic but nuanced—growth in understanding may empower both positive and negative actors.
  • The call to action: actively speak up and shape technology to foster trust-based provider–patient relationships and autonomy.
  • Quote:
    • "It's not that it is certain. It's that I can decide to have an impact in a positive way. And when I see things that aren't right, I can speak about it and I can change it." (16:18)
  • Final thought emphasizes the necessity for patient choice and responsibility, echoing themes of autonomy and trust.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "I've literally been involved with ambulation and surgery for 65 years now..." (00:50 - Bob Bishop)
• "We now know what we know and we know why we know it..." (01:56 - Bob Bishop)
• "The connectivity of the power of silicon calculations...is everywhere all the time now." (03:21 - Bob Bishop)
• "It's simply a ledger. But what's different is that it's digital. That's not magical. But what gets magical is that it's encrypted..." (09:55 - Bob Bishop)
• "You got it. Just like if you were watching. Exactly. Denzel Washington. That's what you're thinking. Yeah, exactly. That's it." (11:37 - Bob Bishop)
• "We need to find ways to remove all of those intermediaries...we're going back to that possibility again where we can reinitiate a relationship between the patient and the doctor." (13:46 - Bob Bishop)
• "It's not that it is certain. It's that I can decide to have an impact in a positive way. And when I see things that aren't right, I can speak about it and I can change it." (16:18 - Bob Bishop)

Important Timestamps

• 00:50 — Bishop's personal background and early connection to surgery.
• 01:56 — Analysis of the ASC market's exponential growth drivers.
• 03:21 — How connectivity and technological ubiquity are reshaping ASCs.
• 04:44 — Deep dive into blockchain and its disruptive potential.
• 09:55 — Layman’s explanation of blockchain technology.
• 12:16 — The problem of intermediaries and the challenge of direct doctor–patient relationships.
• 16:18 — Closing thoughts about optimism, ethical responsibility, and innovation.

Summary

Bob Bishop walks listeners through a sweeping view of the ambulatory surgery center space: from personal anecdotes and early inspirations through the transformational effects of advancing digital technologies. He argues that the confluence of secure, distributed computing (particularly blockchain) and universal connectivity will dismantle outdated economic models, strip out unnecessary intermediaries, and revive direct doctor-patient relationships built on trust and autonomy. Bishop remains cautiously optimistic, underscoring the need for purposeful engagement to ensure technology fuels positive change in healthcare.