Dr. G. Keith Smith is a board certified anesthesiologist in private practice since 1990. In 1997, he co founded The Surgery Center of Oklahoma, an outpatient surgery center in Oklahoma City. SCO is owned by over 50 of the top physicians and surgeons in central Oklahoma. Dr. Smith serves as the medical director, CEO and managing partner while maintaining an active anesthesia practice.
In 2009, Dr. Smith launched a website that displays SCO’s all-inclusive pricing for various surgical procedures. This move garnered national, and even international, attention. Not only do many uninsured or underinsured American patients take advantage of this cash pricing, but many Canadians have traveled to The Surgery Center to receive care. Recently, the focus has expanded to working with self-funded employers to offer high value care to their employees. Increasingly, self-funded health plans are taking advantage of Dr. Smith’s pricing model resulting in significant savings to their employee health plans.
The free market focus of the Surgery Center, the innovator of this free market model in the U.S., has gained the endorsement of policymakers and legislators. Dr. Smith hopes as many facilities as possible will adopt a transparent pricing model, a move he believes will lower costs for all and improve quality of care. Dr. Smith is the co-founder of the Free Market Medical Association. The association provides a platform where buyers, both individuals and employers, who are seeking high quality, affordable healthcare can find free market minded sellers, both physicians and facilities.
Additionally, Dr. Smith has made appearances on the John Stossel Show, CNBC, Huffington Post, The O’Reilly Factor, Capital Account with Lauren Lyster, and the Ron Paul Channel. He has also been featured by Reason Magazine’s TV division, and NBC affiliate, KFOR. The New York Times, ABC news, Forbes, and many others have written articles featuring Dr. Smith’s revolutionary approach to the pricing of health care and uncompromising free market principles.
