Author: Francesca Mathewes

Tennessee lawmakers are reviving an effort to address the state's anesthesia provider shortage  after the previous effort died in committee earlier this year, the Public News Service reported Sept. 25. 

St. Louis-based Mercy, the Heartland Whole Health Institute and the Alice L. Walton Foundation announced a $700 million, 30-year affiliation agreement, Phelps County Focus reported Sept. 24. 

ASCs leaders and physicians are at a pressure point between rising inflation, increased demand for healthcare services and declining reimbursements from Medicare and private payers. 

Here are five cardiologists in the headlines, as reported by Becker's:

Thirty-seven percent of physicians say private payers had "quite a bit" or "a great deal" of influence over treatment decisions, according to Medscape's 2024 "Physician-Private Payer Relationship Report Report." 

St. Cloud, Minn.-based CentraCare received plat approval to complete an ongoing expansion project, KNSI News reported Sept. 24. 

Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Health Network agreed to pay $65 million in a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit affecting 134,000 patients and employees, the Information Security Media Group reported Sept. 23. 

The ASC industry is facing new forces in consolidation: large health systems and independent ASC groups with non-traditional business models.

A July 2023 study by RAND found that most physicians working in vertically integrated hospitals or health systems were 65% less likely to use ASCs for procedures, compared to physicians who were never a part of a vertically integrated system. 

Here are give studies and reports shaping the anesthesia market and workforce right now: