Author: Patsy Newitt

Many physicians are distressed by CMS' proposal to decrease the physician pay conversion factor by $1.53 to $33.08. 

Utah has the most physician search engagements per capita, according to Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare's 2022 "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives."

Payers are incentivizing physicians to perform procedures in low-cost settings, which means ASCs are becoming increasingly attractive, according to ASC leaders. 

Seventy percent of free-standing ASCs are independently owned and operated, according to VMG Health's "2022 M&A Report."

Elevance Health, the insurer formerly known as Anthem, is one of the biggest payers by members with 39.9 million members.

Texas is an ASC hot spot. The state ranks third in number of ASCs in the country, according to a report from the Ambulatory Center Centers Association.

Radiology saw the highest pay jump among physician specialties in the last year, according to Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare's 2022 "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives."

Increasing consolidation and COVID-19 have accelerated private equity's interest in ASCs. 

As procedures increasingly move to ASCs, the way hospitals are used is shifting, according to Brian Bacot, MD, orthopedic surgeon at Comprehensive Orthopaedic Global in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. 

The Permanente Medical Group is the nation's largest, with 10,007 physicians, according to Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare's 2022 "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives."