UnitedHealthcare plans to drop Houston Methodist hospital system from its in-network providers at the end of the year, and Optum will be directing patients away from the system's eight hospitals as a result, reported the Houston Chronical. 

Revenue leaks that go undetected can hurt an ASC's profitability and cash flow, according to Serbin Medical Billing.

Massachusetts has the lowest uninsured rate of any U.S. state, according to a ranking by WalletHub.

Texas has the highest uninsured rate of any U.S. state, according to a ranking by WalletHub.

Hershey, Pa.-based Penn State Health joined Geisinger Health Plan's provider network, The Standard-Journal reports.

Outpatient venues are taking on a growing percentage of Medicare patients, according to Anesthesia Business Consultants President and CEO Tony Mira.

In order to receive Medicare reimbursement and be certified by CMS, ASCs must comply with standards set by the federal agency.

Ron Rittenmeyer, CEO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, said he'd like to see policymakers improve the ACA's current framework instead of eliminating it entirely, ThinkAdvisor reported.

Surgical Notes published an e-book providing information about 15 key performance indicators ASCs can monitor to improve revenue cycle performance.

Patients are responsible for a greater portion of their healthcare bills than they were two decades ago, and many can’t afford their out-of-pocket costs or high deductibles, leaving providers in the lurch.

Here are three surgery centers recruiting coders and billers:

Here are three updates that could affect reimbursement and payment collection in ASCs:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and Portland, Ore.-based Cambia Health Solutions called off a planned partnership on Sept. 27, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Humana added West Reading, Pa.-based Reading Hospital to its Medicare network, according to the Reading Eagle.

High-deductible health plans are increasingly prevalent, but Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills, according to ClearGage.

As patient consumerism continues to make waves throughout healthcare, patient demands for pricing information are steadily increasing.

Nearly $32,000 in patient payments goes uncollected each year by 40 percent of all providers, according to ClearGage, a healthcare payment solutions provider.

Limited patient-to-physician interaction in the ASC environment makes it challenging to reinforce patient payment obligations, according to ClearGage, a healthcare payment solutions provider.

Procedures performed in freestanding surgery centers cost less than those performed in hospital settings, and it's an area poised for growth, Axios reports.

The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association is backing new legislation that would affect how CMS handles payment and quality data for ASCs and hospital outpatient departments.