Being part of the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) is more than just paying dues and receiving a newsletter; it’s about being part of a community that cares.
Between June 23 and 25, 2025, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) will host its annual conference in Irving, Texas. As the premier conference dedicated to the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) industry in Texas, the meeting features opportunities to earn continuing education credits, learn best practices from colleagues & experts, get up-to-date info on accreditation & regulations, and network with leaders from across the state.
This year, the conference will be held at the Omni Las Colinas Hotel, a waterfront property with rooms that offer views of Lake Carolyn and Las Colinas and amenities that include:
On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, Susan Cheek, CPA, CHCC, CASC, administrator of Dallas Endoscopy Center, represented the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) during the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services hearing at the Capitol in Austin, Texas.
Cheek had a challenging position, as the only witness against Chair Lois Kolkhorst’s bill, SB 331, which relates to the disclosure of healthcare cost information by certain healthcare facilities.
Between February 17 and 21, 2025, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) had its 2nd Annual Survey Readiness Workshop. This virtual event allowed participants to prepare for accreditation success with insight from experts.
On Day 1, Rommie Johnson, MPH, PMP, program director for the ambulatory surgery center (ASC)/office-based surgery (OBS) programs at Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), gave a great overview of ACHC and noted there are over 26,000 facilities the commission accredits nationwide, including over 2,400 in Texas.
This year marks the 89th legislative session in Texas. Each year, thousands of bills are filed, and a significant portion of these affect healthcare. On Tuesday, February 25, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) will lead members to the Capitol to discuss key topics and bills with legislators.
There are several reasons why you should join us for Capitol Day 2025…
On January 1, 2025, the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) Survey becomes mandatory for Medicare-certified ASCs. OAS CAHPS scores are influenced by multiple factors, particularly the quality of care patients receive.
However, providing high-quality care will not guarantee high survey scores for your ASC. Since the survey measures the patient's experience (i.e., their perception of the care received), poor survey results could stem from a disconnect between what patients experience and what the survey questions address. To achieve favorable scores, you must provide great care and focus on providing a great experience concerning the topics highlighted in the survey. Addressing these topics in a way that aligns with patient perceptions should improve how patients feel about the topics and lead to better scores.
Last week, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) toured Cedar Park Surgery Center with Texas Health Care Information Collection (THCIC) representatives: Director Tarik Brown and Training Specialist Tiffany Overton.
The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center is proud to introduce a new board member, Landon Welch, MHA, LNFA.
Welch started his career as a patient transporter at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, and after graduate school, he became a licensed nursing home administrator in Houston, Texas. In 2019, he transitioned to the ambulatory setting and currently works with SCA Health, where he is the CEO of Texas Health Surgery Center Cleburne.
Every year, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) gathers the ambulatory care industry together at its annual conference, and this year, the education, networking, learning, and best practices will take place at The San Luis Resort, Spa and Conference Center in Galveston, Texas.
The Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) board of directors and stakeholders met last week at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, in order to focus on this year’s advocacy goals leading up to the next legislative session in 2025.
The day started out with TASCS lobbyist, Eric Woomer of Congress Avenue Partners, reviewing the current state of Texas politics and the bills of interest that passed last session. Next up was a state agency panel discussing updates regarding ambulatory surgery center (ASC) rules and regulations. Sarah Mueller from Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) reviewed the itemized billing legislation that passed and the informal rules that were recently released by HHSC for stakeholder input prior to being published in the Texas Register. Mueller also spoke to the guidance letter sent to providers by HHSC.
The Dallas Endoscopy Center (DEC) never slows down!
This summer, they opened their new center.
Text messaging has become one of the most important communication mechanisms for ASCs. It's a fast, efficient, cost-effective, and highly successful way to get timely messages to patients and their caregivers, staff and physicians, and vendors. Given the rise of spam calls, which are motivating more people to ignore incoming calls and voicemails from numbers they do not recognize, texting is a communication mechanism increasingly preferred by the public.
That's good news for ASCs already using or planning to add texting capabilities. Text messaging can be leveraged to communicate with stakeholders on a variety of financial, clinical, and operational issues. In fact, it can be used in many ways ASCs are often not taking advantage of — applications that go well beyond standard uses like appointment reminders and arrival and check-in instructions.
This National ASC Month, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (TASCS) wanted to do something special...
Amidst a workforce shortage and supply chain issues...despite a pandemic...over all the years, with all the changes...there have been dedicated employees who have stuck with it. They were tested, but they never gave up. For more than 50 years, ambulatory surgery centers have been delivering high-quality, cost-effective care, and the professionals listed below have been part of this for decade after decade.
Throughout the year, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society’s (TASCS) advocacy and regulatory efforts are enhanced, thanks to its lobby team, Congress Avenue Partners (CAP). A large part of the government relations and public affairs firm’s strategies come into play during the Texas legislative session. This year alone, the team tracked approximately 300 bills for TASCS, due in large part because members filed a record number of bills after coming off the pandemic session in 2021. In addition, the budget surplus added to the increase in bill filing, as members saw this session as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make investments in new and existing programs.
Prior to session, TASCS and CAP anticipated the legislature’s intent in addressing big health care issues, and how ambulatory surgery centers could be caught up in blanket legislation, with broad definitions of health care facility or health care provider, and this is exactly what happened. The legislature was laser focused on transparency related to health care facilities, physicians, and providers in a way that we have not seen before. Members filed bills to restrict physician/provider authority, eliminate fees, mandate price controls, and require specific payment methods. While claiming these changes would lower health care costs and provide greater consumer protections, the practical outcome would have distorted the health care marketplace, jeopardized the livelihood of providers, resulted in significant financial losses or increased costs for providers, and/or contributed to the rising prices of health care for the consumer.
This month, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center (TASCS) traveled back to Spicewood Surgery Center, visiting with Administrator Katie Pierson, DNP, RN, ONC and Collin Bradley, MPH, the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) new Industry & Policy Specialist for Outreach & Employer Initiatives.
TASCS embarked on a remarkable summer road trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, joining fellow members of the South Texas ASC industry for a highly beneficial networking event. TASCS President Dallas Freyer, RN BSN, expressed her genuine delight, stating, "It was truly wonderful to unite with everyone at this long-awaited gathering."
Ambulatory surgery centers from around Corpus Christi gathered for a TASCS networking event, as well, which garnered significant attention and was well-attended. Attendees were warmly welcomed by local ASC celebrity, Freyer, who is widely recognized as an expert and mentor in the local market. Known for her reputation of inclusion and helpfulness, her presence added an extra layer of prestige to the occasion.
The next stop on the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society's road trip was Fannin Surgicare, an ambulatory surgery center located on the campus of The Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston. Because of its location, women and children make up the bulk of its patients, with services including a large amount of upper/lower endoscopy, ENT, hearing restoration, urology, breast reconstruction, pediatric orthopedics, general surgery, and obstetrics-gynecology.
Each year, the Texas ASC Society heads out across the Lone Star State, stopping by to see ambulatory care leaders and touring their high-quality, cost-effective surgery centers...like the new Kelsey-Seybold Memorial Villages Campus!
Another annual conference has come and gone for the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society. There were SO many of you present as speakers, vendors, sponsors, and guests...businesses and groups from all over, coming together for the ambulatory surgery center industry. We hope you all benefited from the learning, the networking, and the fun (we're looking at you, bingo-playing chickens;).
