Heading to Becker's in Chicago? So Are We.

Six ASC sessions we think you shouldn’t miss and why the conversations afterward matter most.

By Mitch Laird, MBA | Co-Founder & COO, Sigmatic

In two weeks, more than 1,000 ASC leaders will be in one place. Administrators, CFOs, physician owners, and the people responsible for keeping surgery centers running. The Sigmatic team will be there too.

Becker’s 32nd Annual: The Business and Operations of ASCs runs October 29–31 at the Swissotel Chicago, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there.

We go to Becker’s for the same reason you do. Not for the badge or the tote bag, but for the conversations. The ones where an administrator from Ohio and a CFO from Texas realize they’re fighting the same problems with the same spreadsheets.

Because here’s what we hear: margins are tightening. Supply costs are rising. Valuable OR time is going unused. And despite all the technology available today, getting reliable answers to basic operational and financial questions is still harder than it should be.

With seven tracks and more than 200 speakers, you can’t see everything. So we went through the agenda and picked six sessions we think are worth your time.

Six Sessions We Think You Shouldn’t Miss

All six are on Thursday, October 29. Bring coffee.

8:00 AM — How Data-Driven ASCs Optimize OR Performance (Track G)

Unused block time, late first cases, and slow turnovers all affect the bottom line. The challenge isn’t just measuring OR performance. It’s identifying where capacity is being lost and doing something about it.

Our question: Could you identify your biggest OR efficiency opportunity today without pulling another report?

8:45 AM — Scaling Smarter: Building a Data-Driven ASC (Track C)

“Data-driven” sounds great until you need information from three different systems to answer one question. We’re interested in how centers are connecting the technology they already have and making their data more useful.

Our question: How much time does your team spend gathering information versus actually using it?

Tough choice: This overlaps with The New Era of ASC Profitability and Cost Cutting (Track A). Both deserve consideration.

9:45 AM — The Cost-Smart ASC: Strategies to Protect Margins and Drive Savings (Track D)

Reimbursement pressure isn’t going away, and neither are rising supply and implant costs. We wrote about this margin squeeze earlier this year. Understanding costs by surgeon, procedure, and service line is becoming increasingly important.

Our question: When you identify a savings opportunity, how do you know the savings actually materialized?

10:30 AM — AI That Actually Works: What ASCs Are Learning from Automation (Track B)

Finally, an AI session title that gets to the point. ASC leaders don’t need more hype. They need practical tools that save time, reduce manual work, and deliver answers they can trust. Our colleague Ehab Gabr recently explored where AI is already paying off for ASCs.

Our question: What is AI actually doing for your center today that makes someone’s job easier?

12:25 PM — The ASC, Through Your Eyes: Turning Insight Into Action (Track B)

This might be our favorite session title of the conference. Most centers have plenty of reports. Turning those reports into meaningful operational improvements is another story. Identifying a problem is useful. Fixing it is what matters.

Our question: What’s one operational issue you’ve identified but haven’t had the time or information to address?

1:10 PM — Navigating the Future of ASC Growth: Payer Contracting, Case Migration and Financial Sustainability (Track D)

More cases moving into ASCs is great news, provided the economics work. Growing volume doesn’t always mean growing profitability, particularly when reimbursement, case mix, and supply costs are moving in different directions.

Our question: Do you know which procedures and payer contracts are actually driving your margins?

Two more worth a look: Evaluating Case Mix: What Drives Profitability and Performance (9:05 AM, Track G) and Negotiating Vendor and Supply Agreements in a Tight Market (12:45 PM, Track G).

The Real Test Comes the Monday After

Conferences are great for ideas. But the real test comes when everyone returns to their facilities and the daily demands of running a surgery center take over.

The staffing issue is still there. The surgeon needs something. The schedule changes. And suddenly those great ideas from Chicago are sitting in a notebook somewhere.

That’s a challenge we think about a lot at Sigmatic. We believe ASC administrators should spend less time chasing information and more time using it. Connecting the systems centers already rely on, making operational and financial data easier to access, and using AI to answer questions are all part of that effort.

But technology alone isn’t the answer. What matters is whether it helps someone make a better decision, solve a problem, or improve performance.

So here’s our challenge for Becker’s: Pick one idea from Chicago. Just one. Then ask yourself whether you have the information to put it into practice and measure whether it worked.

That’s where the real value begins.

Let’s Talk in Chicago

We’d love to hear what you’re working on. What’s your biggest operational headache? Which number takes the longest to pull? What question do your physicians keep asking that you wish you could answer more easily?

You won’t find us behind a booth. We’ll be in the sessions and the hallways, which is where the best conversations happen anyway.

The easiest way to connect is to book time with us before the conference, and we’ll find a quiet corner to talk.

Bring your hardest data question. We’ll bring the coffee.