Cardiology is gaining significant momentum as an outpatient specialty as ASCs as more cardiovascular procedures become approved for the outpatient setting by CMS and advancements in clinical technology open up access to outpatient procedures.
Outpatient catheterization labs
Standalone and Medicare-certified cardiac cath labs have begun cropping up across the country as independent physician groups, hospitals and health systems recognize the opportunity to shift lower and mid-acuity diagnostic and interventional procedures to lower-cost settings.
According to a recent blog post by Ascendient, a healthcare consulting firm, cardiac catheterizations are used more than 1 million times per year in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
“Today, appropriate outpatient diagnostic and interventional cardiac cath procedures are increasingly being performed in [ASCs] across the country, especially in states without [certficate-of-need] regulations,” reads the Ascendient post. “A number of [certificate-of-need] states in the southeastern U.S. have been generally more cautious, with the pace of cardiac ASC approvals picking up in just the past two years.”
Physician autonomy, practice independence
Because cardiology is a relatively new specialty in the ASC industry, the field is less developed by corporate entities and more open to ventures by independent physician groups and smaller practices.
“The cardiovascular space for ASCs is really wide open. I think [there is] the chance for physician autonomy — and to me, it doesn’t mean staunch independence [or] ‘I answer to no one,’ because I think that’s a naive thought,” Amanada Ryan, DO, CEO and owner of Advanced ASC of Carlsbad, N.M., told Becker’s. “We all are answering to one another and having accountability in our healthcare system. But I think finding people to partner with that maybe are more in line with our vision and mission is really what we’re looking for. As we look to expand our services, we look to partner with other physicians who are like minded in their approach.”
The openness of the space has allowed for more collaborative practice models between physician-aligned management services organizations and other partnerships.
In-house CT scanners
In-house CT-scanners are hard to come by in outpatient cardiology offices, despite their known effectiveness and accuracy in identifying early stages of heart disease.
A recent wave of cardiologists are looking to change that. Alberto Morales, MD, founder of South Tampa (Fla.) Cardiology, is an advanced imaging cardiologist. He founded his facility about three years ago with an in-house 64-slice CT scanner and has conducted thousands of scans on his patients with the goal of catching heart disease in early, often asymptomatic stages.
The introduction of the CT-scanner to his practice has opened up new opportunities for early diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, he told Becker’s, and has created a more accessible setting for cardiovascular care.
