By 2035, the anesthesia monitoring technology alone is expected to be a $7.86 billion market, up from $3.17 billion in 2025, growing at a 9.5% annual clip as more complex cases move into outpatient settings.
Medicare’s own numbers already show where that’s headed, as total knee replacements performed in ASCs jumped 27.6% and total hips 28.7% between 2023 and 2024 alone. Additionally, CMS’ finalized 2026 rule removed 285 mostly musculoskeletal procedures from the inpatient-only list as a first step toward a full phaseout by 2029.
Marie Edler, chief growth officer of SCA Health, told Becker’s her team is planning around a version of the ASC that looks a lot busier and a lot more clinically complex than the one operating today.
“Orthopedics is a great example of how fast you go from fracture care and sports medicine to total joints, and now spine and neuro migrating into the ASC setting,” Ms. Edler said. “I think we’re going to continue to see advances in cardiovascular, more advances in spine, general surgery, even urology. There’s this whole segment of the population that’s clinically appropriate in an ASC that normally wasn’t part of a urologist’s care model.”
What gets a case like that into an ASC safely, in her telling, isn’t just the surgical technology. It’s the anesthesia and care team behind it.
“If we can get strong anesthesia capabilities right, with anesthesiologists as part of the care team, with our surgeons as part of that migration opportunity, and building what that program is going to look like inside the ASC with our clinical teams, then I think you can use the right technology and equipment to create that monitoring and that environment, and then just clear protocols for managing either new or higher-acuity cases,” Ms. Edler said. “We’ve seen real positive outcomes when all of those pieces work together.”
The technology behind that shift is already being built and funded. CMR Surgical raised $200 million this year for its AI-augmented Versius robotic system, and Caresyntax raised $180 million for AI-powered surgical video analytics, while Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic have both scaled enterprise AI platforms across perioperative scheduling and risk assessment. Ms. Edler expects that same push to eventually reach the parts of the ASC patients never see, particularly billing and claims, though she’s said that ASCs are “a little bit behind” on technology and EMRs today, since reimbursement hasn’t driven the same investment in outpatient IT that hospitals have seen.
Underneath the procedure list and the technology roadmap is a simpler claim, and it’s the one Ms. Edler comes back to when asked what excites her most.
“I think the ASC is increasingly going to be viewed not just as a place where the care could get done, but where everyone wants their care to get done,” she said. “ASC value-based care is the type of care every single American should want for themselves, for their family, for their parents, for their children, and that’s what excites me most about the opportunity to achieve that view for the future.”
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.
