CMS’ recent expansion of covered cardiology procedures in ASCs is spurring the development of new outpatient sites, promising a continued shift of procedures out of the hospital setting.
Cardiology’s growth in the outpatient space will likely also impact patient experience and overall access to cardiovascular care at a time when patients in the U.S. have an average wait time of more than 30 days to see a cardiologist — and even longer in rural areas.
Christina Hagan, administrator of Philadelphia-based AMS Cardiovascular and director of ASC operations for Atria Health, recently joined Becker’s to discuss her predictions for the next decade in outpatient cardiology and how she sees the shift rippling into healthcare overall.
Editor’s note: This response has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How do you see outpatient cardiology developing over the next 5-10 years? What do you think the larger impact on healthcare will be?
Christina Hagan: My prediction is that a decade from now, these procedures are going to be like ortho spaces. Let’s say I had to get something done to my knee and I said I wanted to go to the hospital. My insurance would be like, “You’re going to the surgery center.”
Medicare is paying out less, and commercial payers are paying out less because ASCs are run more efficiently than a hospital. Everything is lower, the cost to do it is lower, so the cost to reimburse is lower. I think eventually — and this is more of a public perception — people will get more and more used to cardiology in the outpatient space. Some patients don’t even blink an eye. They’re going to surgery centers to get stuff done all the time. So when we tell them, “Oh, you need your pacemaker generator changed, and it’s going to be done at our surgery center,” they’re like, “Okay!” They don’t even really think about it. We’ve actually had a lot of patients ask to come to the ASC because it just delivers a little bit of a better patient experience in cardiovascular. When you do it at the hospital outpatient department — and this is not to talk down on hospitals, I worked in hospitals for years, and they have their place — you’re sometimes mixed in with hospital inpatients, who are sicker, whereas in the ASC, that’s not the atmosphere. Everyone is more comfortable.
More procedures will prove that it’s safe, and I think even more procedures will come out of the hospital. Hospitals are overbooked, and a lot of places can’t provide procedures to patients for months — and it’s their heart. So, if we get more into the outpatient space, we reduce the wait time, and we open up hospital beds for people who are more critically ill. It benefits the health system overall.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.