ASCs have shifted to the center of conversations around growth in hospitals, health systems and physician groups as they prove to be an efficient way to expand healthcare access and bring down costs.
As large organizations look to quickly increase their outpatient capacities, partnerships with physicians and management services organizations have come to define the new era of ASC deals.
“We’re kind of stretched across the board as far as physicians looking to us to provide the space and own it, but they’re more so partnering with us in a highly efficient operation,” Dennis Butts, executive vice president and chief strategy and network development officer for Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, told Becker’s.
He added that Henry Ford sets itself apart in recognizing the difference between straightforward, capital partnerships and those that will drive growth.
“What’s interesting now is just the amount of physician ownership that we see happening across the ASC landscape,” Mr. Butts said. “Whereas we look at the volumes of what we’re capturing as a system, those are definitely being impacted by not only more procedures being available to be done in an ASC setting, but also more physician ownership opportunities that’s driving that behavior, as physicians are trying to get upstream, in some of the technical revenue opportunity.”
These fruitful collaborations do not materialize overnight, however, and long-term partnerships should offer more than short-term transactional gain or capital access.
“For me, it comes down to shared vision of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Mr. Butts said. “If we’re not on the same page with a vision of what we’re trying to achieve, you can bring the tactical elements, but you’re not on the same page for us where you ultimately want to go.”
He noted that things often go wrong when hospitals minimize the “entrepreneurial spirit” of physicians behind ASCs or view them merely as an add-on to boost revenue. Conversely, ASC-hospital joint ventures can also go south when physicians view the partnering facility as a capital boost rather than a collaborator.
“I would say too that there’s mutual respect and appreciation for what each party is bringing to the table, and that’s not minimized, but that we’re at the partnership table, we’re actively seeking to understand that, and how do we maximize that in the situation?” Mr. Butts said.
Hospitals and their partnering physicians in ASC joint ventures should also have total clarity on what the value points of their partnership are and how they can support each other.
“It’s about doing more work up front to know, how does one plus one actually equal three? And having clarity on that and being able to get to that value extraction as quickly as possible,” he said. “When people think bigger is always better, that’s not always the case. And so having the right case compliment, the right vision for the partnership, right understanding of the value that each party brings to the table, and then immediately going after that value capture, I think we’re going to create more success versus failure.”
