The majority of anesthesia practices provide services at one or more of the 5,300 Medicare-certified ambulatory surgical centers, according to Mr. Mira. Thus, it is important that they understand the issues facing ASCs, which include:
1. ASCs are confronting declining payments.
2. Medicare payment levels for ASCs.
3. Effort required for collecting payment from patients.
4. Patient selection and optimization for procedures that have only recently begun to be performed in ASCs.
5. The competition for independent physicians continues to heat up as more and more physicians join larger groups with non-compete clauses in their hospital contracts or accept hospital employment.
6. CMS does not publish payments made to ASCs; however, a trend toward the voluntary online posting of prices is beginning to take root.
“It will benefit many anesthesiologists to go a step further and to align their goals with the strategic interests and activities of their ASC partners,” writes Mr. Mira
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