New Jersey is following the rising trend of performing less risky medical procedures in ASCs as opposed to hospitals to reduce costs, according to the New Jersey Spotlight.
Here are eight things to know:
1. Approximately 40 percent of New Jersey ASCs are presently part of larger health systems, an increase of 10 percent from five years ago.
2. Mark Manigan, an attorney representing ambulatory surgery centers, stated healthcare mergers will continue to increase due to the excess of capital.
3. Another factor driving ASCs is the way in which providers are paid. Providers are increasingly being paid based on whether their patients have positive outcomes.
4. Henry Bloom, owner of the Bloom Organization, a healthcare consulting company, stated 80 percent of his business' transactions involve a hospital in some capacity.
5. Another trend in the ASC market is physicians moving away from being out-of-network so physicians can connect with larger organizations inside insurers' networks.
6. ASCs have an added benefit of being able to match the level of risk for different patients with the least costly health setting when they work with hospitals.
7. Larry Trenk, president of NJAASC, claims mergers enable ASCs to have the scale and information technology infrastructure of hospitals while also having physicians with an entrepreneurial spirit leading the centers.
8. Chris Holden, president and CEO of Tennessee-based ASC operator AmSurg, is worried the industry will be altered by a generational change due to physicians being less prone to independent practices.
For more on ASCs:
NJAASC elects new board members — 7 people to know
ASC Salary & Benefits Survey: ASCA offers report to participants — Deadline June 30
6 state & federal legislative changes impacting ASCs — June 22, 2015