Podcast Summary: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Episode: Grant Luke, ASC Ambassador and Consultant in Supply Chain and Healthcare Technology
Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Scott Becker
Guest: Grant Luke, Consultant (Cap Expert), former SCA, HST Pathways, USPI leader

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Scott Becker interviews Grant Luke, a seasoned leader in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) sector, focusing on trends, challenges, and future outlooks in ASC supply chain management, asset management, and leadership. Grant shares key observations from his consulting work, the promise of digital tools and AI for asset optimization, and career advice for emerging leaders as the industry heads into 2026.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Grant Luke’s Background & Role

• [00:19-01:12]
  • Based in Dallas, Grant has spent nine years in the ASC sector, working with leading healthcare tech and management firms (HST Pathways, SCA, USPI).
  • Currently consults with Cap Expert, a startup focused on asset management solutions for ASCs and outpatient imaging centers.
  • “Trying to make sense of a really disjointed approach from what we've seen of asset management.” – [00:37]

Major ASC Industry Trends

• [01:19-03:58]
  Grant identifies three transformative trends in the ASC space:

  1. Migration of Higher-Acuity Cases to ASCs

     • More complex procedures (traditionally done in hospitals) are being shifted to ASCs.
     • This transition demands sophisticated asset management systems—handling advanced HVAC, sterile processing, and complex equipment.
     • “ASCs need to develop a more sophisticated asset lifecycle management capability so they can actually manage these assets...” – [01:43]

  2. Addressing Waste & Driving Hyper-Optimization

     • Despite greater efficiency compared to hospitals, ASCs still confront significant waste, particularly in supply chain operations and reactive capital procurement.
     • Emphasis on optimizing workflows, inventory management, and preference card variation.
     • “Reactive capital procurement is a tremendous waste when you’re having to react to capital equipment going down…” – [02:34]

  3. Portfolio Optimization of Capital Assets

     • Trend toward systems thinking: managing portfolios rather than single-item budget reviews.
     • Focus on maximizing return on capital as well as clinical benefit.
     • “Instead of asking, ‘Should we buy a new laser or C arm,’ it’s ‘What combination of infrastructure upgrades, equipment purchases, facility repairs leads to the maximum return?’” – [03:29]

Future Focus & Exciting Innovations (2026 and Beyond)

• [04:10-06:26]
  • Enhanced ability to quantify the total cost of ownership (TCO) for critical medical assets—beyond sticker prices, factoring in economic impact.
  • Adapting AI and chat tools (like ChatGPT, Gemini) for medical asset and contract management—making platforms more intuitive and capable of surfacing cost-saving opportunities.
  • Cap Expert serving as a "ChatGPT for medical assets," offering leaders insight into equipment performance, procurement, and contract consolidation.
  • Cited customer results: 26x return on investment using automated procurement, equipment reallocation, and service contract consolidation tools.
  • “You go from a firefighting mentality to a systems mentality, being able to use that data to your advantage.” – [04:41]
  • “Cap Expert is becoming ChatGPT for medical assets and service contracts…” — [05:13]

Leadership & Career Advice for ASC Professionals

• [07:54-10:57]
  Grant shares guidance for up-and-coming leaders, structured in three layers:

  1. CapExpert/Asset Management:

     • Move from relying on P&L (a lagging indicator) to using asset health as a leading metric for revenue and risk management.
     • “Your asset health could and should be a leading indicator.” – [08:13]

  2. ASC Leadership:

     • Become a “chief translation officer”—bridge communication between clinicians, finance, board members, and physician owners.
     • Develop the skill to translate operational and clinical realities into financial language and vice versa.
     • “ASC leaders…have to be able to speak clinician, finance, physician owners, board of directors—and go between the two.” – [09:09]

  3. Life Perspective:

     • Pursue peace in life and leadership; prioritize decisions that promote personal and professional peace rather than chasing external achievements.
     • “What people are looking for is peace… If you can find a way to set up for yourself and then be at peace, that to me is the end all, be all.” – [10:05]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Trying to make sense of a really disjointed approach from what we've seen of asset management.”
  — Grant Luke [00:37]

• “ASCs need to develop a more sophisticated asset lifecycle management capability so they can actually manage these assets...”
  — Grant Luke [01:43]

• “Reactive capital procurement is a tremendous waste when you’re having to react to capital equipment going down…”
  — Grant Luke [02:34]

• “What combination of infrastructure upgrades, equipment purchases, facility repairs leads to the maximum return?”
  — Grant Luke [03:29]

• “You go from a firefighting mentality to a systems mentality, being able to use that data to your advantage.”
  — Grant Luke [04:41]

• “Cap Expert is becoming ChatGPT for medical assets and service contracts…”
  — Grant Luke [05:13]

• “Your asset health could and should be a leading indicator.”
  — Grant Luke [08:13]

• “ASC leaders…have to be able to speak clinician, finance, physician owners, board of directors—and go between the two.”
  — Grant Luke [09:09]

• “What people are looking for is peace… If you can find a way to set up for yourself and then be at peace, that to me is the end all, be all.”
  — Grant Luke [10:05]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:19 — Grant Luke’s background and consulting role.
• 01:19 — Top ASC trends: acuity migration, waste, and portfolio optimization.
• 04:10 — Innovations for 2026: TCO, AI-driven asset management, Cap Expert’s tech.
• 07:54 — Career advice: P&L vs. asset health, translation in leadership, pursuing peace.

Tone and Style

Grant speaks in an approachable, pragmatic, and analytical style with an emphasis on actionable insights for ASC leaders. He balances technical discussion with personal and leadership reflections, concluding with a broader life philosophy.

This episode is a must-listen for ASC professionals, supply chain and asset managers, and healthcare leaders looking for forward-thinking advice on optimizing surgery center operations, embracing new technologies, and leading effective teams in a rapidly evolving industry.