Jeffrey Flynn, President of the New York State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Summary

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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Jeffrey Flynn, President of the NYS Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Date: December 8, 2025
Host: Grace Lynn Keller
Guest: Jeffrey Flynn, President of NYS Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers & COO of Gramercy Surgery Centers

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Episode Overview

This episode, recorded live at the 31st Annual Business and Operations of ASCs Conference, features a conversation with Jeffrey Flynn about the current state and future trajectory of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Flynn discusses key market forces, technology integration, collaborative opportunities, and workforce challenges facing the ASC sector.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Current ASC Market Trends and Growth Drivers

• Major forces fueling ASC growth:
  • Unsustainable healthcare cost increases are pushing payers, insurers, and employers toward lower-cost care settings.
  • Patients experience smooth, timely, and less chaotic experiences at ASCs than traditional hospitals.
  • The ASC market is projected to reach $60.8 billion by 2030, with higher-acuity cases increasingly moving into ASC settings.

Quote:

“We have an unsustainable climb in healthcare cost in this country… Insurers, payers and employers are actually now demanding… higher acuity cases going into lower cost settings, which are cost more efficient, [and] we also provide a better patient experience.”
— Jeffrey Flynn (01:44)

• Cataracts and Future Case Shifts:
  • Less complex procedures like cataracts are projected to move into office-based settings within a few years, allowing ASCs to further embrace high-acuity procedures.
  • Flynn suggests ASC leaders should not fear these trends but instead adapt and prioritize the expansion of services to more complex cases.

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2. Technology as a Critical Success Factor for ASCs

• Robotics and AI:
  • The ASC sector is at a tipping point where robotic surgery is becoming standard—especially since new surgeons are increasingly “looking for that robot.”
  • The traditional laparoscopic approach is giving way to robotic-assisted procedures as the norm.

Quote:

“The reality is, orthopedic surgeons, general surgeons coming out of training now are looking for that robot. And unless they have that robot for a crutch, that’s a real issue of them coming to the surgery centers.”
— Jeffrey Flynn (02:54)

• AI in Operations:
  • Artificial intelligence can streamline operational tasks, such as automating patient confirmations—a process that can consume about four hours daily for busy centers.
  • Flynn says that automating such processes “could be huge” for expanding staff bandwidth.

Quote:

“With AI just in the senses of billing… expanding your bandwidth with certain simple things like that, it sounds like a real person making your phone call… If you can expand your bandwidth that that person’s doing something else, that could be huge for you.”
— Jeffrey Flynn (03:31)

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3. Collaboration and Joint Ventures

• Hospital Partnerships:
  • About 60% of health systems are considering ASC joint ventures.
  • Successful models involve health systems that offload less acute cases to ASCs, reserving hospitals for more complex procedures.
  • Flynn highlights New York’s Mount Sinai and Northwell health systems as examples where joint ventures have improved efficiency and patient access.

Quote:

“There are some hospital systems that really have known how to do it… They need to offload certain cases to have room to do the higher acuity cases in the hospital. And they’ve embraced that.”
— Jeffrey Flynn (04:09)

• Key Outcome:
  • Collaborations expand community access and operational efficiency for both hospitals and ASCs.

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4. Workforce and Education Challenges

• Talent Pipeline Concerns:
  • Flynn expresses concern about a “brain drain” because most healthcare career programs focus on hospital settings, not ambulatory care.
  • Calls for partnership between national organizations and educational institutions to include ambulatory healthcare management in curricula—making room for externships and internships.

Quote:

“Nobody trains to come into our fields. The programs in educations now… are all geared towards hospital setting systems… National organization needs to work more carefully with education programs to open up ambulatory healthcare management as a teaching ability… That’s a concern I have as we further grow.”
— Jeffrey Flynn (05:09)

• Outlook:
  • Despite recruitment challenges, Flynn is optimistic: “In the ASC community this really is our time to further grow so it is a very exciting time.” (05:50)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On ASC resilience and growth:

  “In the ASC community this really is our time to further grow so it is a very exciting time.”
  — Jeffrey Flynn (05:50)

• On the role of technology in routine operations:

  “Patient confirmations take about four hours a day. If you can expand your bandwidth that that person’s doing something else, that could be huge for you.”
  — Jeffrey Flynn (03:31)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:35 — Host introduction and guest background
• 01:44 — Key market trends, ASC growth drivers
• 02:54 — The role of technology: robotics and AI
• 04:09 — Collaboration between hospitals and ASCs
• 05:09 — Workforce and educational pipeline concerns
• 05:50 — Flynn’s final outlook: “this really is our time”

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Summary

In this concise but content-rich episode, Jeffrey Flynn offers a clear window into the dynamic changes reshaping ambulatory surgery centers. He points out that controlling healthcare costs, leveraging new technology, forging hospital partnerships, and addressing the workforce pipeline are all critical to the ASC sector’s ongoing success. Flynn’s optimistic tone is balanced by a pragmatic call to action for both industry leaders and educators—emphasizing that now is a “very exciting time” for ASCs in the broader healthcare landscape.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Is Grace Lynn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast and we're recording live at the 31st annual Business and Operations of ASCS. I'm currently joined by Jeffrey Flynn who is the President at the New York State association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Thanks for being here today. Let's have you start by sharing a little bit more about yourself and your work in the ASC space.

[C]

Thank you, thank you for letting me be here as I am. I'm Jeff Flynn and I'm the President of the New York State association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and I'm also the Chief Operating Officer of the Gramercy Surgery Centers in New York. I've been in the industry for 23 years now and have seen tremendous growth across the board in IT as more higher acuity procedures get to us and access of care opens up. And actually the ease of certain con states too has actually been helpful.

[B]

Wonderful. Well, let's start with the ASC market in the US. This is projected to reach $60.8 billion by 2030 and it continues to experience strong year over year growth. So from your perspective, what are the most significant trends in market forces driving this expansion and how should ASC leaders be preparing today?

[C]

I think cost is the biggest factor that goes into the fact is just we have an unsustainable climb in healthcare cost in this country and recognizing that the appropriate costs of service are not being followed as insurers, payers and employers are actually now demanding that they want to see with technology happening the higher acuity cases going into the lower cost settings which are cost more efficient, we also provide a better patient experience because it's not the chaos of a hospital. Things run on time and go forward. So I see just as more cases keep going our direction and we lose cases going forward like for instance cataracts eventually will be in the next two or three years in the office space setting, I don't think that's a thing to be concerned about. I Think we embrace the higher acuity procedures as we bring those to us?

[B]

Absolutely. And from AI and robotic surgeries to advanced EHR systems, technology remains a make or break factor and also a critical driver of ASC operations at scale. So how do you see deeper tech integration shaping the way ASCs deliver care and manage their business over the next few years?

[C]

I think this is huge. And we actually just had our New York State conference where we really did dive into this with one of our panels. From the situation of bringing and introducing robots into the the ASC setting, we're not going to have a choice in the future. The reality is, is orthopedic surgeons, general surgeons coming out of training now are looking for that robot. And unless they have that robot for a crutch, that's a real issue of them coming to the surgery centers. There's less and less laparoscopic surgery as the robotic is taking more aim for the future.

In fact, with the AI just in the senses of billing and just expanding your bandwidth with certain simple things like that, it's actually, it sounds like a real person making your phone call to your patient confirmations in a, in a fairly busy center. Patient confirmations take about four hours a day. If you can expand your bandwidth that that person's doing something else, that could be huge for you.

[B]

And with 60% of health systems considering ASC joint ventures and many ASCs already partnering with systems in their communities, what opportun do you see for collaboration, whether with other providers or vendors, to strengthen patient care and operational efficiency?

[C]

I think there is a big force and I've seen throughout the country in different areas, there are some hospital systems that don't know how to do it. But there are some hospital systems that really have known how to do it and really put in a situation where they can actually understand that they need to offload certain cases to have room to do the higher acuity cases in the hospital. And they've embraced that. We have two particular healthcare systems in New York, the Mount Sinai Healthcare system, their joint venture programs, and also the Northwell joint venture programs where it's a variety of different things, whether it's majority owned by the hospital or minority owned by the hospital systems. These centers have run efficiently and they've actually gotten access of care to patients. And I think that's the key factor is we have ambulatory healthcare, is what's getting access of care in the community.

[B]

Well, Jeff, thanks for being here. I'd love to see if you have any other final thoughts you'd like to share or anything we didn't touch on that you'd like to discuss on the podcast.

[C]

I just think anybody looking at the ambulatory surgery center setting and ambulatory healthcare in general, the one concern I think we have is we're somewhat having a brain drain so to speak because nobody trains to come into our fields. The programs in educations now and the master's programs and some of the undergraduate programs are all geared towards hospital setting systems and I'd like and we've been working with some and I think the national organization needs to work more carefully with some of the education programs to open up ambulatory healthcare management as a teaching ability to go through an externships and internships because that's a concern I have as we further grow but in the ASC community this really is our time to further grow so it is a very exciting time.

[B]

Well thanks so much for being here and again we are recording live at the 31st annual business and operations of ASCS.

[C]

Thank you for having me.