September/October 2026 Issue of Becker’s ASC Review
On The Cover
Why did ASCs finally agree to public Leapfrog ratings?
For years, many ASCs have operated outside healthcare’s transparency movement. This year, the industry is shifting, and the push didn’t just come from patients.
The hidden math separating profitable ASCs from busy ones
ASC leaders have been increasingly vocal about the miscalculation of treating the center as one enterprisewide profit-and-loss statement instead of a collection of distinct businesses, each with its own economics.
The $4,000-a-day anesthesia stipend bubble — and when it pops
Anesthesia stipends continue to skyrocket, with the share of ASCs expecting to pay stipends jumping from 28% in 2024 to 44% in 2025, according to a VMG Health report, a 57% increase in a single year.
Who’s actually winning the fight for ASC ownership?
Ask ASC leaders where the industry is headed and most agree that the industry is headed toward more volume, more acuity and more procedures migrating out of the hospital.
The ASC fraud case that just redrew the line on MSO kickback risk
The Justice Department’s decision to decline prosecution of Campus Eye Management Holdings while separately indicting its founder turned a spotlight on a corporate structure that has become the default architecture for private-equity-backed provider roll-ups.
The next crisis coming for ASCs
Electrophysiology is the fastest-growing subspecialty in cardiology, and hospitals and ASCs are each racing to expand capacity for it.
The colonoscopy reimbursement math is not adding up
Colonoscopy is the most frequently performed procedure in ASCs, and while the demand is rising, the economics of performing it are getting worse.
Are GLP-1s quietly rewriting ASC case mix?
When Vijay Bachani, MD, built New York Bariatric Group’s ASC platform, bariatrics was the business. Two years later, it isn’t.
The loopholes PE built to buy physicians are starting to crack
The Justice Department’s decision to decline prosecution of Hamilton, N.J.-based Campus Eye Management Holdings, while separately indicting its founder, turned a spotlight on a corporate structure that has become the default architecture for private equity-backed provider roll-ups.
AAOS president warns of orthopedic practice closures under Medicare proposal
Wilford Gibson, MD, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and partner at Virginia Beach, Va.-based Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists, knows how little financial cushion an independent medical practice can have.
ASC Management
Physician independence is making a comeback — why ASCs are leading the way
For much of the past decade, the story of physicians’ practice has moved decidedly away from independence.
The hidden math separating profitable ASCs from busy ones
ASC leaders have been increasingly vocal about the miscalculation of treating the center as one enterprisewide profit-and-loss statement instead of a collection of distinct businesses, each with its own economics.
The $110K anesthesia staffing opportunity for ASCs
For ASCs, maximizing OR utilization increasingly depends on whether staffing can flex as quickly as surgical volume does.
The ASC fraud case that just redrew the line on MSO kickback risk
The Justice Department’s decision to decline prosecution of Campus Eye Management Holdings while separately indicting its founder turned a spotlight on a corporate structure that has become the default architecture for private-equity-backed provider roll-ups.
The next crisis coming for ASCs
Electrophysiology is the fastest-growing subspecialty in cardiology, and hospitals and ASCs are each racing to expand capacity for it.
Thought Leadership
The magic number for hospital ASC strategy
There comes a point when health system’s ASC moves stop being a side project and start requiring a more involved strategy, and, according to Atlas Healthcare Partners CEO Aric Burke it’s when revenue is above roughly $2 billion to $3 billion, and a portfolio has grown past about five centers.
Where ASCs fall short on profit potential
ASC leaders are facing constant pressure to protect margins as labor, supply and operating costs climb. But focusing too narrowly on expense reduction can miss the bigger financial picture.
Why did ASCs finally agree to public Leapfrog ratings?
For years, many ASCs have operated outside healthcare’s transparency movement. This year, the industry is shifting, and the push didn’t just come from patients.
Why some ASCs ‘are going to be left out’ of healthcare’s next era
ASCs that wait on downside risk aren’t just falling behind, according to Dan Tasset — they’re pricing themselves out of the healthcare delivery system entirely.
The $4,000-a-day anesthesia stipend bubble — and when it pops
Anesthesia stipends continue to skyrocket, with the share of ASCs expecting to pay stipends jumping from 28% in 2024 to 44% in 2025, according to a VMG Health report, a 57% increase in a single year.
Orthopedics
The ASC squeeze hiding inside CMS’ joint replacement mandate
CMS finalized its newest mandatory bundled payment model for hospitals, but the rule also has implications for ASCs that perform outpatient hip and knee replacements for those hospitals’ patients.
Orthopedic surgeons are tied for the wealthiest physician specialty: 10 financial stats
Orthopedists and orthopedic surgeons are among the wealthiest physicians in the country, and their edge over other specialties is widening, according to Medscape’s “Orthopedist Wealth & Debt Report 2026: Is the Rising Net Worth Tide Carrying Your Boat?”
The tension at the heart of CJR-X: Hospitals are accountable, but surgeons drive outcomes
Under the recently finalized joint replacement model from CMS, hospitals are financially accountable for every readmission, complication and therapy bill in a 90-day joint replacement episode, even though the surgeons who drive most of those outcomes aren’t held to the same standards.
Can this specialty stay unified amid increased specialization?
The consolidation reshaping orthopedic surgery isn’t slowing subspecialization — it’s accelerating it. As solo and small-group practices disappear, surgeons gain partners who can absorb more specialized cases, reducing pressure to remain a generalist.
Gastroenterology
The colonoscopy reimbursement math is not adding up
Colonoscopy is the most frequently performed procedure in ASCs, and while the demand is rising, the economics of performing it are getting worse.
Are GLP-1s quietly rewriting ASC case mix?
When Vijay Bachani, MD, built New York Bariatric Group’s ASC platform, bariatrics was the business. Two years later, it isn’t.
Where GI is booming and where it’s about to run out of physicians
GI is expanding fastest in many of the states projected to have the thinnest physician supply by 2036:
More colorectal cancer screening options, more coverage problems
As colorectal cancer incidence grows among younger adults and patients have more screening options than ever before, insurance coverage may not be keeping up.
The price of hiring a GI physician in 2026: 186 days and $46,000 upfront
As private equity-backed groups, hospitals and ASCs all bid for the same thin pipeline of gastroenterologists, recruiting one has become one of healthcare’s longest and most expensive physician searches.
Transactions
Who’s actually winning the fight for ASC ownership?
Ask ASC leaders where the industry is headed and most agree that the industry is headed toward more volume, more acuity and more procedures migrating out of the hospital.
The $795M move turning Surgery Partners into a pure-play ASC operator
Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners has focused much of its efforts in 2026 toward optimizing its portfolio.
The loopholes PE built to buy physicians are starting to crack
The Justice Department’s decision to decline prosecution of Hamilton, N.J.-based Campus Eye Management Holdings, while separately indicting its founder, turned a spotlight on a corporate structure that has become the default architecture for private equity-backed provider roll-ups.
FTC locks in 7-ASC divestiture to close Ascension-Amsurg deal
The Federal Trade Commission has finalized a consent order requiring Ascension Health Alliance to divest seven Amsurg ASCs across five markets as a condition of its $3.9 billion acquisition of Amsurg, which closed in early June, according to an Aug. 25 news release from the FTC.
Spine
AAOS president warns of orthopedic practice closures under Medicare proposal
Wilford Gibson, MD, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and partner at Virginia Beach, Va.-based Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists, knows how little financial cushion an independent medical practice can have.
