As ASCs continue to grow in popularity, they face increasing competition from hospital outpatient departments.
Alejandro Badia, MD, founder and CMO at Miami-based Badia Hand to Shoulder Center, joined Becker’s to discuss how ASCs can differentiate themselves from HOPDs.
Question: How can ASCs differentiate themselves from hospital outpatient departments?
Dr. Alejandro Badia: Independent ASCs are exactly that — independent. They have fewer restrictions, and they can almost pick and choose which surgeons and anesthesia providers they work with. In a hospital outpatient department, the surgery center that’s affiliated with a hospital — they’re a little more encumbered in terms of who they can have there.
Let’s say they want to have the best surgeons and anesthesiologists available, but it’s not a true free market. In other words, I consider myself good at what I do, but I can’t just pick up and go to any hospital and bring one of my complex wrist fracture cases there.
But at an ASC, I can much more easily get privileges. And of course, I can be an investor. And in today’s world, I think physicians need that. Reimbursements have been cut every single year for 20 years—there’s no other profession on the planet where that happens.
So, this is good for physicians, good for patients and good for the healthcare system. Maybe not as good for certain hospital systems, but they’re trying to catch up. We have to admire that.
But in the end, it comes down to cost. And we know that hospital-affiliated ASCs are always going to be more expensive. We need more transparency in our system, and hopefully, the current administration will deliver on that promise.
