Insurers pass risk to patients with high-deductible health plans, and members are becoming savvier about the cost of care as a result.

Cigna's preventive care is back to pre-pandemic levels, and Blue Cross Blue Shield cut a rule that hampered competition.

The success of bundled payments hinges on a variety of factors — some ASC leaders are wary, while others have found success in value-based payments. 

CMS added hundreds of surgeries and procedure codes to the ASC payable list in 2021 and revealed plans to eliminate the inpatient-only list over the next few years.

More ASCs are considering bundled payments as a part of their strategy. Three ASC leaders spoke with Becker's ASC Review on addressing obstacles with bundled payments. 

Bundled payments are a challenge for some ASCs — oftentimes, these payments mean the ASCs have to coordinate post-operative services and align a plan of care. 

Implant costs are a burden for many ASCs, and many feel ASCs have irreparably shifted the implant industry. 

Medicare and commercial insurance companies have developed new policies over the last year that will drive more surgeries to ASCs. But that doesn't mean payers have made things easy for them.

As higher-acuity procedures move to outpatient, ASCs must be sure to consider the cost of implants in commercial payer contracts. 

A Sioux Falls, S.D.-based neurosurgeon and the two medical device distributorships he owns will pay $4.4 million to resolve False Claims Act violation allegations, the U.S. Justice Department said May 3.

A California-based ophthalmology clinic said it plans to refund CMS more than $398,000 after an HHS investigation found inappropriate billing led to overpayment.

Handling reimbursement issues is critical to ASC success. Here are three ASC leaders on their biggest reimbursement challenges: 

From price transparency requirements to President Joe Biden's CMS nomination, here are six CMS updates for ASC leaders: 

While some ASC administrators have hired extra staff to handle prior authorizations, Andrew Lovewell, administrator at Columbia, Mo.-based Surgical Center at Columbia Orthopaedic Group, has kept those duties in house.

A St. Louis-based pain management physician is suing to keep the federal government from collecting millions in refunds after it allegedly overpaid his practice $14,418.93.

The process of obtaining prior authorization is challenging for some ASC administrators also tasked with other financial duties.

Employers are increasingly interested in direct contracting with surgery centers through regional and national contracts, and ASCs are ready partners as high quality, low cost sites of care.

Navigating reimbursements from CMS and commercial payers is a difficult task for ASCs. Here are six ASC leaders on their biggest problems with payers. 

As prior authorization requirements grow in the outpatient space, ASC administrators have to find ways to balance finances at their centers. For one administrator, communication with physicians and payers has helped the center manage prior authorization rules.

Angela Mattioda is vice president of revenue cycle management services for Surgical Notes. Here she answers three RCM-focused questions.