Sean Gipson, CEO of Remedy Surgery Centers

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast with Sean Gipson, CEO of Remedy Surgery Centers

Date: August 16, 2025
Host: Grace Lynn Keller
Guest: Sean Gipson
Event: 22nd Annual Spine, Orthopedic, and Pain Management Conference

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Episode Overview

This episode features Sean Gipson, CEO of Remedy Surgery Centers, sharing his seasoned perspective on pivotal trends in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) space, evolving dynamics in payer models, staffing challenges, the growing prominence of orthopedics and ASCs, and the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Recorded live at a major industry conference, the discussion offers practical advice and candid reflections for healthcare leaders navigating the rapidly changing healthcare landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sean Gipson’s Background and Unique Perspective

[00:53 - 01:58]

• Sean has dedicated 37 years to medicine, primarily in the ASC sector.
• He has experience on the corporate, publicly traded, and private sides of healthcare, providing him comprehensive insight into hospital-ASC relations and business growth.
• Quote:

  “I've been on the corporate side, I've been on the publicly traded side and I'm on the private side now. So it's given me a kind of a look from the perspective of what hospitals are looking at [with] ASCs, how those threats are for them... and keeping our investors happy as well.” — Sean Gipson [01:17]

2. The Changing Payer Market

[02:10 - 03:44]

• The payer landscape is evolving rapidly, with employer frustration over ballooning premiums driving new models.
• Some large employers are bypassing traditional payers and forming direct consortiums with surgery centers, eliminating intermediaries, expediting care, and improving payments.
• Sean’s team has initiated such arrangements and witnessed brisk interest from other companies.
• He emphasizes the importance of diversifying payer relationships to buffer against instability.
• Quote:

  “This large company, they have 1100 employees and they're facing a 29% increase from their payer. So they're not going to do it. They're going to do their own. And so we've created our own consortium and to be quite honest, takes the middleman out.” — Sean Gipson [02:33]

3. Addressing Staffing and Workforce Challenges

[03:54 - 05:14]

• Traditional hospital staffing models don’t translate to ASCs, requiring different recruitment approaches.
• Sean has built partnerships with local colleges and nursing programs, offering students real-world experience and, in return, early access to top graduates.
• While new grads require training, they are adaptable if mentored by seasoned staff.
• Quote:

  “I've gone to the local colleges... we have partnered with them... we're allowing their students to come do walk throughs or... some skills training.... In return for doing that, we get to fish their pool first so I can pick up the top three graduates and take them in.” — Sean Gipson [04:28]

4. The Expansion of Orthopedics and ASC Roles

[05:22 - 06:11]

• The outpatient shift, especially in orthopedics and spine, is accelerating.
• Improved data and successful outcomes in higher-acuity ASC procedures are changing perceptions, enticing more top surgeons to these settings.
• The market for complex outpatient cases is growing; hospitals are no longer the only choice for such procedures.
• Quote:

  “Orthopedics... it's getting easier to do these higher, complex, higher acuity cases in an ASC... It's just given us a bigger market to play in and we're attracting those bigger surgeons that now aren't so against doing surgeries in our center.” — Sean Gipson [05:46]

5. Innovations: Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Operations

[06:25 - 08:09]

• AI is becoming ubiquitous in healthcare conversations.
• Sean candidly admits his initial unfamiliarity but values conference learning and peer connections.
• AI is streamlining operations, particularly in billing: bots automatically review data, reduce errors, and perform round-the-clock work, letting staff focus on oversight rather than manual tasks.
• This technology empowers staff rather than replaces them, and reduces the need for additional full-time equivalents (FTEs).
• Quote:

  “AI now is, you know, something you can look at. It's going to be in every piece of an operations perspective. But most importantly on a payer side, when we're looking at our data for billing, I can use AI to scrub through that stuff and just reduce many human errors.” — Sean Gipson [06:53]

6. The Value of Industry Conferences

[08:16 - 08:47]

• Sean urges industry professionals to make full use of conferences for seeing new innovations, networking, and glimpsing the future of healthcare.
• Quote:

  “Use these conferences intelligently... it gives us a peek into the future and what that market is really doing before it really actually gets here. You get to see some of the widgets and play with them, pick them up... It's great networking opportunity.” — Sean Gipson [08:16]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On payer shifts:
  “They're fed up, they're tired of the double digit [increases]... they're not going to do it. They're going to, they're going to do their own.” — Sean Gipson [02:23]

• On AI adoption:
  “That AI bot is an electronic FTE per se that's working 24 hours a day... we’re putting a clean claim in and it’s going to be passive.” — Sean Gipson [07:38]

• On the benefit of conferences:
  “Spend the money, come out. There's great people. It's great networking opportunity. I've met many new folks here and then participate.” — Sean Gipson [08:36]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Sean Gipson introduction & background: 00:53-01:58
• Payer market trends and direct contracting: 02:10-03:44
• Staffing/workforce strategies: 03:54-05:14
• Orthopedics & ASC market evolution: 05:22-06:11
• AI and operational innovation: 06:25-08:09
• Industry conferences advice: 08:16-08:47

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Conclusion

Sean Gipson’s candid reflections cut through industry jargon, providing grounded advice on payer innovation, creative staffing, technological adoption, and the continued rise of ASCs and orthopedics. His emphasis on taking action—whether in payer contracting, workforce development, or AI implementation—offers healthcare leaders a pragmatic lens for future growth. He closes with a strong endorsement of conferences as vital spaces for foresight and connection in a swiftly evolving sector.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Is Grace Lynn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast and we are recording live at the 22nd annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference. I'm currently joined by Shawn Gipson who is the CEO at Remedy Surgery Centers. Thanks for being here. Would love to start off by having you share a little bit more about yourself, your role and your organization.

[C]

Thank you. Thank you for having me here. I've been in medicine now for about 37, the ASC market itself. It's been about 32 of those 37 years. I think the unique side of what I have to offer out there now is I've been on the corporate side, I've been on the publicly traded side and I'm on the private side now. So it's given me a kind of a look from the perspective of what hospitals are looking at acs, how those threats are for them. It gives me the other side from the private side. Looking back at the hospital, how can I friendly cohabitate an area and share patients without letting them into my wallet per se and keeping our investors happy as well? So I've been in medicine all my life. I've grown some of the businesses just on my own as as a business owner and then just the partnerships and publicly traded side of the world.

[B]

Wonderful. Well, thank you for being here. And let's start our conversation with what trends or shifts you're currently seeing right now in the industry that you think are most important for industry leaders to pay attention to.

[C]

I'm going to state the obvious. One of them is the payer market, right? So our payer market is changing at lightning speed and it's amazing really to kind of sit back and watch. There's days where I'm planning for, you know, negotiations for up and coming commercial markets, but on the other side I'm talking to large companies and those large companies, quite honestly, they're fed up, they're tired of the double digit. One example that I have from just Last week, this large company, they have 1100 employees and they're facing a 29% increase from their, their payer. So they're not going to do it. They're going to, they're going to do their own. And so we've created our own consortium and to be quite honest, takes the middleman out. So we are seeing patients quicker, we get paid quicker, we don't have to do authorizations. It's really a savvy market to get into, but you need to get in now. And oddly enough, as soon as we got into the first one, I was approached by three more. So that payer market, yes, we'll still contend on the outside with, you know, the commercial market and the federal payers. But some of the new stuff, you know, private pay versus a bundled type scenario, you just need to make sure that you're, you're building that repertoire of payers out and you can, you can plan off of that a lot easier. So.

[B]

Absolutely. And staffing and workforce challenges, those continue to be a concern across healthcare. So how's your organization navigating mitigating these pressures and what strategies have you seen work?

[C]

Well, in that scenario you really have to look at a couple different things and to be quite honest, you have to step off your soapbox that you're used to being on as a hospital administrator. It was easy. We had a department, we just went there and we, we picked up our folks. But I can't, I can't do that, you know, and in an asc, I mean we can, but it, we, the reach is nothing compared to what we're, we've had in the past. So I've actually done some different things. I've gone to the local colleges that have nursing schools or whatever, scrub programs and we have partnered with them in the sense that we're allowing their students to come do walk throughs or, or they can do, you know, some skills training in a real live or and kind of watch some stuff happen there. In return for doing that, we get to fish their, their pool first so I can pick up the top three graduates and take them in. It's hard. I mean there's a, there's a negative to that because those folks have not been in a real life environment. But you can mold them and if you have senior enough folks, you can mold them to be that person. That's your surgeons absolutely want to be in the case.

[B]

And as outpatient care continues to grow, how do you see the role of orthopedics and ASCs evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem.

[C]

So that's an easy one. Looking around at the conference now, it's full of orthopedic folks. It is full of spine folks. I mean, orthopedics things are, you know, they're, it's getting easier to do these higher, complex, higher acuity cases in an asc. It's, we've spent the time and pulled the data and now people are seeing, you know, it's not really as scary as what they initially painted it to be. So doing those big complex cases, it's just given us a bigger market to play in and we're attracting those bigger surgeons that now aren't so against doing surgeries in our center versus the hospital.

[B]

And then as we round out our conversation, many organizations are exploring new technologies, partnerships or care models to improve efficiency and outcomes. So are there any innovations or initiatives you found particularly promising?

[C]

I probably just like everybody else, I mean, every other word out of anybody's mouth here at this conference is AI. And we've just got to face the facts. It's here. So I'm a little bit of an older guy, but I think the biggest thing for me going into this is I don't really understand what it is, I don't really understand how it works and I don't know how much it costs. So it's an exact reason to come to conferences like this. So I've been in many, many AI talks here, have learned a ton, have made some connections and AI now is, you know, something you can look at. It's, it's going to be in every piece of an operations perspective. But most importantly on a payer side, when we're looking at our, our data for billing, I can use AI to scrub through that stuff and just reduce many human errors. I'm starting to sound like some of the robotic stuff, but I mean, it truly is. And it's not that I'm going to get rid of my billing staff. Those folks are going to manage the AI within that and allow us to grow. I don't have to have as many FTEs really. That AI bot is a electronic FTE per se that's working 24 hours a day, that when they come back in, my director comes back in, she can look back through the scrub data, make any corrections that we might need to do and know that we're throwing, you know, we're putting a clean claim in and it's going to be passive.

[B]

Well, Sean, thank you for taking the time to be here today. Is there anything else you'd like to share that we didn't get to touch on.

[C]

I think we've covered a lot. Honestly, I would say to anybody to use these conferences intelligently. And look, it gives us a peek into the future and what that market is really doing before it really actually gets here. You get to see some of the widgets and play with them, pick them up. And it's a conference. It's. It's what these are here for. So spend the money, come out. There's great people. It's great networking opportunity. I've met many new folks here and then participate.

[B]

Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for joining us today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Again, we are live at the 22nd annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference.

[C]

Thank you so much.