Today’s cardiology leaders are navigating an era of strategic growth, innovation and access expansion. With shifting procedure sites, workforce constraints and reimbursement dynamics, cardiology departments must enhance value, optimize operations and maintain high-quality care while adapting to new market pressures.
Here are five ways cardiology departments are rewriting their blueprint in 2025:
- Outpatient migration of cardiac procedures: The number of single-specialty cardiology ASCs in the U.S. grew from 55 to 221 between 2018 and 2023, and now accounts for about 4% of all Medicare-certified ASCs.
“We’re moving lower-acuity cases outpatient, but hospitals will continue to care for higher-acuity patients,” Kristen Richards, vice president of ambulatory care at Cardiovascular Logistics, told Becker’s. “That partnership can also help relieve hospital capacity issues — many are stretched thin with bed shortages and staffing challenges. I like to say, ‘You’re either at the table or on the menu.’”
Large health systems and private platforms are shifting catheter placements, device implants and other low-risk interventions into outpatient settings.
- Expansion of dedicated cardiology-centric infrastructure: Multiple systems and platforms are investing in freestanding outpatient labs, hybrid procedural rooms and cardiovascular ASCs to capture growing volume in the specialty. More than 80 cardiology-focused centers were opened or announced in 2024 alone.
Several hospitals have also expanded or partnered with independent operators to capture outpatient cardiac volume. This expansion reflects cardiology’s rapid emergence as one of the fastest-growing specialties in the ASC landscape.
- Staffing and workforce readiness: The collision of rising patient demand with workforce shortages proves another strain, with physicians citing increasing administrative burdens, rigid scheduling and burnout as major threats.
Leaders told Becker’s viable solutions include expanding healthcare coverage, improving electronic health record systems, funding more fellowship positions and integrating advanced practice providers into cardiovascular care teams.
Many also pointed to flexible scheduling, stronger alignment with primary care and prioritizing physician well-being as key to sustaining patient access and reducing turnover.
- Battling reimbursement and financial headwinds: Despite volume growth and a continued shift to outpatient care, cardiology practices face shrinking margins as reimbursement remains about 53% lower in ASC settings than hospital outpatient departments.
Ongoing Medicare payment cuts, inconsistent private-payer coverage and rising labor and compliance costs are straining profitability. The growing administrative burden has also made independent operation more difficult, pushing many groups to align with larger systems or platforms.
- Growing importance of access and workforce balance: With the cardiologist shortage deepening, access to cardiovascular care is becoming a central concern.
The ratio of cardiovascular patients per cardiologist is projected to rise from one in 1,087 to one in 1,700 by 2035.
To retain patient access, systems must expand coverage, support primary care alignment and strengthen recruitment pipelines, leaders told Becker’s.
“We have an aging population of people, and at the same time, we have fewer physicians able to treat those patients,” said Michelle Wimberly, director of physician recruitment and retention at Cardiovascular Logistics.
