Consolidation continues to reshape the ASC market, but the forces determining who wins — particularly in anesthesia — extend beyond access to capital.
Large, often private equity-backed anesthesia groups are gaining ground in part because their scale allows them to move clinicians across facilities as surgical demand fluctuates. At the same time, independent groups are looking for ways to replicate that flexibility without sacrificing autonomy.
Two anesthesia leaders told Becker’s how consolidation, physician relationships and the growing importance of flexible staffing are shaping ASC mergers and acquisitions.
Question: What M&A trend has been shaping the ASC industry most significantly in your market over the last year?
Brian Cohen, MD. Administrative Chief of Miami Anesthesia Services: M&A in the Southeast ASC market seems to map to the rest of the country. We saw a few ASCs that had been around for 20 to 30 years close their doors for a variety of factors, while de novo centers continue to be born from surgeons’ hopes and dreams. While large scale acquisition strategies continue to happen at the national level, the local decisions of which direction an ASC moves are still based on existing relationships, trust, physician networks and value-add pitches.
Nick Schiavoni, MD. Anesthesiologist and CEO of Calder Health (Laguna Beach, Calif.): The dominant trend is consolidation, with large, often PE-backed groups winning ASC anesthesia contracts. And a lot of it comes down to flexibility. If you staff multiple sites, including a hospital system, you can flex reserves toward an ASC on a heavy day and pull back on a light one. That’s a real operational advantage.
But bigger isn’t actually better, and large groups aren’t the only ones who can pull this off. If we can better coordinate our independent workforce to serve many groups at once, we can give smaller, independent groups the flexible bench they need to survive. That’s how you keep the market healthy and competitive, and it’s one of the problems I’m most excited to tackle.
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.
