SIS Taps SaaS Veteran Tim O'Brien to Lead AI Push in ASC Market

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – June 29, 2026 – In a strategic move signaling a deepened commitment to technological leadership, Surgical Information Systems (SIS) today announced the appointment of Tim O'Brien as its new Chief Executive Officer. The transition sees former CEO Tom Stampiglia move to the role of Chairman of the Board, a deliberate structuring designed to ensure continuity while aggressively pursuing the next phase of growth. The change comes as the company, a dominant force in software for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), positions itself to capitalize on the seismic shift toward outpatient care and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.

A Strategic Hand-Off for a New Era

The leadership shuffle at SIS is less a course correction and more an injection of rocket fuel. Tom Stampiglia’s tenure saw the company solidify its market leadership, earning a remarkable 11 consecutive years as the top-ranked ASC EHR vendor by Black Book. His move to Chairman leverages his deep institutional knowledge to guide high-level strategy, ensuring a steady hand remains on the tiller.

"This leadership change marks an exciting moment for SIS," said Tom Stampiglia. "As the ASC market continues to expand and evolve, we are investing in the leadership and technology needed to support our clients and drive meaningful innovation across the surgical ecosystem."

Incoming CEO Tim O'Brien is a seasoned veteran of the healthcare technology landscape, bringing a formidable track record in SaaS transformation. His most recent role was CEO of Finvi, a healthcare collections and payments software company, where he spearheaded the development of a modern, multi-tenant SaaS platform. Before that, O'Brien spent nearly a decade in senior leadership at athenahealth, a titan in cloud-based ambulatory services. During his tenure, he was instrumental in scaling commercial operations and driving significant revenue growth, honing an expertise in expanding the footprint of ambulatory-focused technology.

This background is not coincidental. O'Brien's experience is precisely tailored to the moment: leading a specialized, high-performing company through its next phase of scale and innovation within a rapidly expanding niche. His appointment is a clear bet on the power of sophisticated, cloud-native solutions to solve the increasingly complex challenges facing surgical providers.

Riding the Wave of Outpatient Surgery

SIS and its new CEO are stepping into a market defined by immense opportunity and mounting pressure. The U.S. ambulatory surgery center market, valued at over $45 billion in 2025, is projected to surge past $70 billion by 2033. This growth is fueled by a powerful confluence of factors: payers demanding cost efficiency, patients seeking convenience, and technological advancements enabling more complex procedures—from spine to cardiology—to be performed safely in outpatient settings. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has amplified this trend, adding hundreds of procedures to the ASC-approved list in recent years.

However, this migration comes with challenges. ASCs face rising operational costs, persistent staffing shortages, and complex reimbursement dynamics. To thrive, they must become models of efficiency, managing higher patient volumes and greater clinical complexity without compromising financial performance. This is the precise pain point SIS aims to solve. The company's integrated platform, which spans from its award-winning EHR to revenue cycle management (RCM) services, is designed to be the operational backbone for modern ASCs.

"I'm honored to join SIS at such a pivotal time," said Tim O'Brien. "As more procedures shift to outpatient settings and complexity increases, the opportunity to deliver solutions that enhance clinical, operational, and financial performance has never been greater."

The AI Imperative: From Hype to Practical Application

The most telling aspect of this transition is the unified emphasis on artificial intelligence. Both Stampiglia and O'Brien highlighted AI's role in the company's future, focusing on a vision for "practical innovation" and "AI-driven and agentic workflows." This isn't the abstract, far-future AI of science fiction; it's a targeted application designed to solve immediate, tangible problems.

O'Brien noted his excitement to "advance the next generation of healthcare technology through AI-driven and agentic workflows that simplify complexity and enable smarter, more responsive operations." The term "agentic workflows" points to a future where AI acts as an intelligent assistant, automating and optimizing tasks that currently bog down clinicians and administrative staff.

A prime example is the company's recently launched SIS Scribe, an AI-powered transcription tool. The tool addresses a critical bottleneck in the revenue cycle: the delay between a procedure's completion and the physician's signed operative note, which is required for billing. SIS Scribe uses AI to transcribe a physician's dictation in real-time, understanding complex surgical terminology and allowing the note to be signed in minutes, often from a mobile phone. This is the kind of practical AI that directly impacts cash flow and operational efficiency.

While industry surveys show that nearly half of ASCs have yet to adopt AI, SIS is betting that providing clear, ROI-driven solutions will accelerate adoption and become a key competitive differentiator.

Solidifying a Decade of Dominance

With a client base of over 2,900 surgical facilities, SIS is not a startup seeking traction. It is an established leader fortifying its castle. The company's consistent accolades from KLAS Research and Black Book—where it recently earned a near-perfect score of 9.55 out of 10—testify to a deeply entrenched and satisfied customer base. Its RCM services arm alone collects over $2 billion in payments annually for its clients.

Bringing in a leader like Tim O'Brien is a move made from a position of strength. It's about leveraging a dominant market position to not just participate in the future of ambulatory care, but to actively define it. By pairing its proven, specialized solutions with a forward-looking strategy focused on SaaS scalability and applied AI, Surgical Information Systems is signaling its intention to not only keep its crown but to expand its kingdom for the decade to come.