When navigating ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in today’s cardiovascular healthcare landscape, change is at the forefront, evolving the way we provide care. On MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson talks with Joe Sasson, PhD, executive vice president of Ventures and chief commercial officer at MedAxiom and Marc Toth, market president, Cardiovascular Services at Atlas Healthcare Partners. They discuss both the complexities and benefits of ASCs, as well as what steps your organization can take if considering starting one of your own.


Guest Bios:

Joe Sasson, PhD, Executive Vice President of Ventures and Chief Commercial Officer – Joe is a tenured member of the MedAxiom team and brings with him a wide variety of perspectives on healthcare operations and market access strategies. As chief commercial officer and executive vice president of Ventures at MedAxiom, Joe helps members access the technologies and solutions they need to effectively run their organizations and prepare for the future of value-based care. He currently works with companies spanning medtech, device, pharma, imaging, cath labs/ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and health IT to deliver economic value propositions and strategies to accelerate commercial growth. Joe has created and led programs and workgroups centering on EMR utilization and optimization, chronic care management, physician in-office dispensing of medications, CCTA, cath lab efficiency and more.

As the leader of MedAxiom Ventures, Joe spearheaded the development of the HeartX Accelerator, which invests into and helps accelerate five growth stage companies per year. He was also responsible for the creation and execution of MedAxiom’s joint venture with Atlas Healthcare Partners, to position MedAxiom as a leader in the in the ASC space for both clinical quality and operational efficiency. Joe has also led MedAxiom’s initiatives in the direct contracting space, aiming to link self-funded insurers with high quality cardiovascular providers across the nation to create steerage that improves patient experience and outcomes, while lowering costs for payers. In his role, Joe works to commercialize MedAxiom’s product portfolio and continues to focus on innovation, commercial acceleration and operational execution for 40+ companies in the cardiovascular arena.

Throughout his career, Joe has advised over 75 companies – from small startups to the largest names in cardiovascular care – on commercial strategy, sales execution, risk model development, market segmentation and care pathway development with a focus on commercialization. His experience has provided him with valuable relationships and expertise spanning numerous aspects of the healthcare industry, which has provided him a unique skill set that enables him to author the development and delivery of successful responses to the new challenges in this rapidly changing environment.
Joe holds a PhD in Behavioral Science and a master’s degree in organizational improvement.

Marc Toth, Market President, Cardiovascular Services at Atlas Healthcare Partners – As the President of Cardiovascular Services, and Chairman of the MedAtlas CV Board of Directors, Marc leads the team working to transform cardiovascular care delivery and expand patient access to high-quality cardiovascular ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). He oversees the development and management of both the day-to-day business and clinical operations of cardiovascular ASCs for Banner Health, Corewell Health, as well as expansion efforts with Atlas’ newest JV partner MedAxiom.
Marc has 25+ years of leadership experience in the cardiovascular/cardiology marketplace, including product commercialization, physician-practice and outpatient-vascular-lab valuations, capital acquisition, and exit strategies. He also has been an M&A Advisor representing physicians seeking capital and strategic partners for outpatient centers.

Prior to Atlas, Marc founded ACA Cardiovascular, a development and management company focused solely on turnkey development and management of hybrid cardiovascular centers (ASCs and office-based labs). Before ACA Cardiovascular, he worked as a consultant with VERTESS, a healthcare-focused M+A advisory firm, where he advised physician-owned endovascular labs looking for economic and strategic partnerships. His work also included valuations, capital acquisition, and exit strategies.

Marc is also a frequent contributor to Cath Lab Digest, Cardiovascular Interventions Today, and Becker’s ASC Review, and he routinely speaks at national cardiovascular meetings on outmigration trends. He also is an active member of Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA)’s government affairs board bringing his expertise to lobbying efforts that raise awareness of issue relating to cardiovascular ASCs.

Marc received his Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and is a Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor.