About the Rest

Joe Rodriguez
  • 4.7 (382)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

I'm Joe Rodriguez, CRNA. After co-hosting the podcast Anesthesia Deconstructed for years, I kept running into the same problem. I was told that if I stayed clinically excellent and kept my head down, the rest would take care of itself. If you're reading this, you know all too well… IT DOES NOT. Unfortunately, time and time again, I discovered that the most impactful tools to leverage throughout my career in anesthesia (e.g. money, influence, deal negotiations, power) are never taught to us in school or in practice. I had to pick it all up at dinners, off the record, wherever the valuable conversations take place but go unheard. Honestly, my issue with every other podcast in our field is that clinical teaching and polite leadership talk are…are a little boring. I figure if it bores me, it bores you. So then, where can we learn how groups do or don't make money? How do hospital deals get structured? Why do subsidies keep climbing? What separates a holding company from private equity? What does it take to build leadership that holds up under pressure? The list goes on. Which brings us here. I present to you the show I've been wanting to see and got tired waiting around for. About the Rest is a twice-monthly inside baseball podcast for the people who run things. Join me as I sit down with fellow anesthesia business leaders Randy Moore and other key voices from the field to take real positions and hash out the big questions, warts and all. If it's in the public record, it's on the table: announcements, policy changes, lawsuits, the big RFP nobody will explain, the conference moment everyone clocked. If you want to learn how to get into the OR, this isn't it. About the Rest is about, well, the rest! Learn More: www.abouttherest.com About the Rest is a Human Content Production

  1. 2d ago

    The Anesthesia Workforce Shift: 3,000 CRNA Grads, Failing AA Bills, Lost Contracts

    Joe Rodriguez sits down with Randy Moore and Tracy Young, to work through the week's hardest stories. Let the spicy takes flow! Reimbursement: UnitedHealthcare stops paying for physical status. Oklahoma and Louisiana fight back with legislation. Tracy makes the case that anesthesia has been commoditized, and that hospital subsidies taught payers they never have to pay full price. Private equity: California and Oregon pass laws to curb PE in medicine. Tracy argues we legislate against bad actors instead of punishing them. Randy defends consolidation, then explains why the Oregon deal was a playbook of what not to do. And the line nobody else will say: hospitals don't fire anesthesia groups that are doing a good job. Workforce: AA bills fail in Iowa and Minnesota. Joe argues the entire AA strategy asks the wrong question. Tracy disagrees with both hosts and predicts a sorted market: CRNA-centric facilities on one side, MD and AA medical-direction models on the other, driven by math, not preference. Plus: why anesthesia companies obsessed with growth keep losing contracts, and why CRNA residents work full-time hours unpaid while physician residents draw a salary. Takeaways: Hospital subsidies are functioning as a defacto safety net for the entire industry. They are the mechanism that lets payers keep cutting. Every subsidy dollar confirms someone else will cover the gap. Differentiation in anesthesia is no longer simply price. It is recruiting and retention, full stop. Culture is the product. Hospitals don't replace groups that are performing. If a contract gets shopped, there was a problem, whatever the press release says. Growth without product is a failure of leadership. The large groups losing contracts did it to themselves. The workforce will sort itself in the next decade. The average anesthesiologist is 55. CRNA graduation just crossed 3,000 for the first time.  Profit motive is not a disease. Imbalance is. Everyone you've ever hired has a profit motive, including you. Want more Dr. Joe Rodriguez? Tik Tok: @jrodcrna21 Instagram: @jrod.crna & @abouttherestpod YouTube: @AboutTheRest Thanks for my co-hosts: Randall Mooore, DNP, MBA CRNA are Executive VP of Strategy and Chief Anesthetist Officer, former AANA CEO. Tracy Young: Incoming President of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology To Learn More about Human Content Visit: ⁠⁠⁠http://www.human-content.com⁠⁠⁠ To Learn More about About The Rest Visit: www.abouttherest.com Got a Question? hello@abouttherest.com Part of the Human Content Podcast Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    50 min

  2. 2d ago

    Goliaths at War: The Fight Over Anesthesia

    The FTC just notched its second win against the biggest roll-up in anesthesia history. Welsh Carson settled first. Now USAP. So who actually won, and who pays next? Joe Rodriguez sits down with Randy Moore and Gary Keeling for the kind of conversation that usually happens at the bar after the conference, not on the record. No "where did you go to school" warm-ups. Just three operators reading the headlines everyone else is misreading. Gary drops the frame that defines the episode: this is two Goliaths at war. Private equity built 70 percent market share with borrowed money. Insurers answered with the No Surprises Act and rate cuts. Now IDR is swinging back, hospitals are eating the shortfall through subsidies, and the FTC just stepped into the ring. Anesthesia providers are standing in the middle of all of it. Then the gloves come off on the anesthesiologist assistant fight. Sixty bills in thirty years. Gary says there's enough work for everybody and braces for the hate mail. Randy makes the case that should worry every workforce planner in the country: this shortage isn't a cycle anymore, it's structural, and it's not normalizing for five to seven years. Joe closes with the contrarian bet he's making with his own money. If you book the cases, staff the rooms, or sign the subsidy checks, this episode is your briefing. Takeaways The FTC win is a settlement, not a verdict. USAP admitted no fault and the terms are still being executed. The real signal is that the roll-up playbook now carries regulatory risk that didn't exist a decade ago. The Goliath framework: insurers wanted fragmented anesthesia markets they could play against each other. PE consolidated to fight back. The NSA flipped leverage to insurers, IDR is flipping it back, and hospitals absorb every swing through subsidies. PE's debt structure is the tell. Buy with borrowed money, load the debt onto the asset, run admin on a skeleton crew, jettison through bankruptcy when it breaks. Margin expectations beyond 6 to 15 percent in a service business are the warning sign. AA legislation has a 30-year losing record. Roughly 60 attempts, 47 straight failures from 2010 to 2019, and only 5 of 40 passed in 2025 during a historic shortage. If it was going to break through, that was the year. Randy's call: the workforce shortage is structural, not cyclical. Every CRNA program is expanding cohorts and demand still outruns supply. No meaningful normalization for five to seven years. The pipeline counterweight: 147 nurse anesthesia programs with 17 more coming. Joe's on the record preparing for demand growth to slow. Cycles always turn. Gary's operator test: the 2 percent of groups with excess staff aren't lucky, they built culture and systems. Everyone else is churning providers and renting locums at whatever price locums name. Want more Dr. Joe Rodriguez? Tik Tok: @jrodcrna21 Instagram: @jrod.crna & @abouttherestpod YouTube: @AboutTheRest Thanks for my co-hosts: Randall Mooore, DNP, MBA CRNA are Executive VP of Strategy and Chief Anesthetist Officer, former AANA CEO. Gary's is VP of Anesthesia Services, Revenue Cycle Management To Learn More about Human Content Visit: ⁠⁠⁠http://www.human-content.com⁠⁠⁠ To Learn More about About The Rest Visit: www.abouttherest.com Got a Question? hello@abouttherest.com Part of the Human Content Podcast Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min

  3. Trailer

    Here’s What Nobody Talks About

    Along life’s winding roads we’ve each worked tirelessly to hone our skills and ultimately become the excellent clinicians we are today. But what happens when being great in the OR isn't enough? Each week on About the Rest, Joe Rodriguez, DNAP, CRNA, gets into the weeds on the definitive podcast for fellow CRNAs and MDs who want to understand how our profession actually works behind the scenes… warts and all. The spiritual sibling of the award-winning podcast Anesthesia Deconstructed, About the Rest takes a commentary-driven approach to facing the infrastructural obstacles that keep holding us back. Because the hard truth is… although our clinical skills are essential, the business of healthcare far too often treats them as commodities. Unapologetically inside baseball, join the podcast where together we become leaders, gain influence, and hone the skills nobody taught in our programs to take control of our careers. To Learn More Visit: ww.abouttherest.com Got a Question? hello@abouttherest.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    3 min

  4. Apr 1 ·  Bonus

    A New Chapter: Mike & Joe’s Big Announcement!

    Anesthesia Deconstructed is sunsetting, but the conversation is just getting started. Joe and Mike announce Joe’s new podcast, “About the Rest!” Get ready for the next chapter of critical career-driven discussions exploring the leadership, performance, and business of a career in anesthesia. Simply stay subscribed to this feed to automatically follow as Season One begins May 2026 (don’t worry, old eps of Anesthesia Deconstructed aren’t going anywhere).  As we navigate the systems, incentives, and power shifts that happen around the OR we want to know what you think! Visit abouttherest.com to join the community and share what you want to hear next. Get in Touch: hello@abouttherest.com A Human Content Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    16 min
  5. Anesthesia Deconstructed: I Thought We Were Winning. Then, We Got Fired: Essentials of Anesthesia Leadership

    08/21/2025

    Anesthesia Deconstructed: I Thought We Were Winning. Then, We Got Fired: Essentials of Anesthesia Leadership

    In this powerful and unfiltered episode, Dr. Joseph Rodriguez — CRNA, former state and national leader, faculty member, and host of Anesthesia Deconstructed — takes us inside the real lessons of anesthesia leadership. From COVID-era disruption to contract losses, difficult boardroom conversations, and the relentless financial pressures of today’s anesthesia market, Joe shares stories that few leaders are willing to tell. Each story carries a hard-won lesson: why leadership is never just a title, how executive presence shapes outcomes, why data transparency can backfire, and how accountability transforms teams from fragile to high-performing. We also dive into the frameworks that shaped his leadership journey — from Crucial Conversations to The Four Agreements and Five Dysfunctions of a Team — and how every leader can apply them to grow themselves, their organizations, and the people they serve. This isn’t theory. It’s frontline leadership, with all the scars, pivots, and resilience required to survive in one of healthcare’s most disrupted specialties. Whether you’re a CRNA, SRNA, or a healthcare leader navigating change, this conversation is a masterclass in turning setbacks into systems, failures into frameworks, and words into lasting impact. Keywords: Anesthesia, CRNA Leadership, Healthcare Business, Executive Presence, Leadership Lessons, Nurse Anesthesiology, Organizational Growth, Accountability, Professional Development, Anesthesia Contracts, No Surprises Act, Healthcare Strategy, Team Building, Crucial Conversations, Five Dysfunctions of a Team Send us Fan Mail Follow us at:InstagramFacebookTwitter/X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min
  6. What If the AANA Disappeared? Inside the CEO’s Role with Bill Bruce

    08/12/2025

    What If the AANA Disappeared? Inside the CEO’s Role with Bill Bruce

    In this candid and wide-ranging episode, we sit down with Bill Bruce — CEO of the AANA, representing over 65,000 CRNAs and SRNAs nationwide — to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to lead the profession’s largest and most influential organization. From balancing the competing demands of members, boards, and limited resources, to navigating constant political, clinical, and industry noise, Bill explains how the CEO’s role is equal parts strategist, mediator, and pressure point. We explore how the AANA sets priorities, allocates resources, and adapts to both internal ambitions and external threats — and why the organization’s absence would have an almost immediate impact on CRNAs across the country. Bill also shares his perspective on maintaining focus in an environment of relentless change, the leadership qualities that matter most in high-stakes healthcare advocacy, and how the AANA is positioning the profession for the future. Whether you’re a CRNA, SRNA, or simply curious about the forces shaping nurse anesthesia, this conversation offers a rare inside look at the operational, strategic, and political realities of leading at the top. Keywords: Anesthesia, CRNA Leadership, Healthcare Advocacy, Professional Associations, Strategic Planning, Workforce Advocacy, Organizational Leadership, AANA, Healthcare Policy, Nursing Leadership Send us Fan Mail Follow us at:InstagramFacebookTwitter/X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    38 min
  7. Inside Anesthesia: What (Really) Broke the Anesthesia Market

    08/04/2025

    Inside Anesthesia: What (Really) Broke the Anesthesia Market

    In this bold and revealing episode, we sit down with Randy Moore — former military CRNA, past CEO of the AANA, and now a top executive at one of the country’s largest anesthesia organizations — to explore how the anesthesia market unraveled, and why no one stopped it. From workforce blind spots to failed strategic planning, Randy walks us through the early warning signs that went unheeded, the flawed assumptions that fueled collapse, and the slow-motion crises that turned into full-blown disruption. We break down the shift from hospital dominance to ASC migration, the chilling effects of the No Surprises Act, and how private equity’s playbook fell apart. But we don’t stop at systems. Randy also gets personal — reflecting on the cost of unchecked ambition, the value of thoughtful leadership, and the non-negotiables he now looks for in partners and teams. Whether you lead a group, manage hospital operations, or just want to understand the business forces reshaping anesthesia, this conversation pulls no punches — and offers rare clarity from someone who’s led on every side of the table. Keywords: Anesthesia, CRNA Leadership, Healthcare Strategy, No Surprises Act, Workforce Crisis, Private Equity, Surgical Services, Hospital Operations, ASC Growth, Healthcare Leadership Send us Fan Mail Follow us at:InstagramFacebookTwitter/X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    47 min
  8. One Anesthesiologist, 108K Followers, and Zero Filters

    07/17/2025

    One Anesthesiologist, 108K Followers, and Zero Filters

    In this candid and wide-ranging conversation, we sit down with Dr. Brian Schmutzler — anesthesiologist, social media educator, and Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs at CCI Anesthesia — to unpack what it really means to lead in modern anesthesia. From the realities of staffing rural hospitals without anesthesiologists to fighting burnout, navigating private equity, and fiercely defending provider scope and safety, Brian shares hard-earned insights from both clinical and corporate perspectives. We also dive into the power of humor and education on social media, his 108K-strong Instagram following, and how his content brings awareness, advocacy, and levity to patients and practitioners alike. If you're a CRNA, MD, administrator, or just someone trying to understand where anesthesia is headed — and how to lead within it — this is an episode you can’t miss. Keywords:Leadership, Anesthesia, Social Media, Burnout, Independent Practice Send us Fan Mail Follow us at:InstagramFacebookTwitter/X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    54 min
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Trailer

4.7
out of 5
382 Ratings

About

I'm Joe Rodriguez, CRNA. After co-hosting the podcast Anesthesia Deconstructed for years, I kept running into the same problem. I was told that if I stayed clinically excellent and kept my head down, the rest would take care of itself. If you're reading this, you know all too well… IT DOES NOT. Unfortunately, time and time again, I discovered that the most impactful tools to leverage throughout my career in anesthesia (e.g. money, influence, deal negotiations, power) are never taught to us in school or in practice. I had to pick it all up at dinners, off the record, wherever the valuable conversations take place but go unheard. Honestly, my issue with every other podcast in our field is that clinical teaching and polite leadership talk are…are a little boring. I figure if it bores me, it bores you. So then, where can we learn how groups do or don't make money? How do hospital deals get structured? Why do subsidies keep climbing? What separates a holding company from private equity? What does it take to build leadership that holds up under pressure? The list goes on. Which brings us here. I present to you the show I've been wanting to see and got tired waiting around for. About the Rest is a twice-monthly inside baseball podcast for the people who run things. Join me as I sit down with fellow anesthesia business leaders Randy Moore and other key voices from the field to take real positions and hash out the big questions, warts and all. If it's in the public record, it's on the table: announcements, policy changes, lawsuits, the big RFP nobody will explain, the conference moment everyone clocked. If you want to learn how to get into the OR, this isn't it. About the Rest is about, well, the rest! Learn More: www.abouttherest.com About the Rest is a Human Content Production

Information

  • Creator
    Joe Rodriguez
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Rodriguez Anesthesia, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    About the Rest

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