Author: Patsy Newitt

Here are six updates from UnitedHealthcare, one of the largest payers, since Nov. 17:

Here's how much physicians were paid on average over the last five years, pulled from Medscape's physician compensation reports:  

Troy, Mich.-based UnaSource Surgery Center has snagged Advanced Orthopaedic Certification from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, the company said in a Nov. 28 email to Becker's. 

The healthcare industry is increasingly consolidating as operation costs soar — physicians are migrating to employed models and private practices are being bought up by larger entities. 

Jackson, Tenn.-based Physicians Surgery Center is the first ASC in the state to achieve Advanced Orthopaedic Certification from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, the center said in a release emailed to Becker's Nov. 20.

A recent suit was filed against UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, Calif., accusing an anesthesiologist and Gerard Manecke Jr., MD, former chief of anesthesiology, among others, of not giving a patient enough anesthesia and then falsifying official medical…

Three surgery center LLCs have submitted a certificate of need application for a $28.3 million ASC in Pinehurst, N.C., The Pilot reported Nov. 25. 

 The coworkers of anesthesiologist Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., MD, who allegedly injected heart-stopping drugs into IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, testified they were "terrified" of him to federal investigators, D Magazine reported Nov. 23. 

Two leaders joined Becker's to discuss whether payers are pushing procedures to ASCs and other outpatient settings. 

Here are 13 physician kickback suits Becker's reported in 2022 that totaled more than $332 million in either restitution or cost of the fraud scheme: