The year ahead. This is likely to be an interesting year for the ASC business. We expect continued consolidation, some growth opportunities and some real challenges with managed care payors. On the legislative side, the largest challenges are likely to remain for physician owned hospitals and imaging. ASCs are likely to be less impacted.
Question and answer. On hospital ownership of ASCs.
Q: Do you have any information on the average percentage distribution of physician/hospital joint-ventures (e.g. 60 percent physician/40 percent hospital ownership)?
A: There is really a vast range: In general, many hospitals own from 25 to 40 percent; probably a little more than majority require 50.1 percent or more. This is often driven by compliance counsel's perceptions that a hospital must own a majority interest in the joint-venture.
CMS delays some Stark regulations. CMS published a final rule Jan. 3 in the Federal Register that delays until Jan. 1, 2009, certain Stark physician self-referral rules with respect to certain services performed in certain locations. The rule's delay applies to provisions in §414.50, as revised at 72 Fed. Reg. 66222, except with respect to the technical component of a purchased diagnostic test; and (2) any anatomic pathology diagnostic testing services furnished in space that is utilized by a physician group practice as a "centralized building" for purposes of complying with the physician self-referral rules and that doesn't qualify as a "same building."
Titan Health names new chief development officer, hires new VP of business development. Titan Health Corporation announced last week the promotion of Darin Jay (D.J.) Hill to chief development officer. In his expanded role, Mr. Hill will oversee the efforts of the business development team across the country. The company also added Jay Sweetnich as vice president of business development, to its team. Mr. Sweetnich comes to Titan with nearly 20 years of healthcare experience, with expertise in healthcare joint-venture business launches and structuring. Titan Health is a nationwide surgery center development, acquisition and management company that partners with physicians and hospitals to create successful, multi-specialty surgery centers.
Update on June Orthopedic- Pain Management- and Spine-Driven ASC Conference. Besides the May FASA (the ASC Association) annual meeting, and the October FASA/ASC Communications conference, there is not better place to network and meet industry leaders than the June conference. In fact, given the physician and orthopedic focus, many of our exhibitors find this to be the single most effective event of the year.
Last year, this event -- which is focused on orthopedics, and spine and pain -- had more than 480 attendees. Based on the growth we saw last year, we have expanded the roster of speakers and will be bringing in more nationally known figures such as Tucker Carlson and Dr. Brian Cole, as well as Mike Snow from SCA, Cliff Adlerz from Symbion and John Rexwaller from National Surgical Hospitals. We also have a broad and outstanding agenda. Last year, we sold out of exhibit space 30 days before the conference. This year, at a premium cost, we added three spots to the foyer for exhibiting, but exhibit and sponsorship opportunities are limited -- and several exhibit spots are already gone. Please reserve your spot as soon as you can!
The sponsorships include the following:
- senior leadership,
- keynote speaker,
- networking lunch,
- syllabus,
- Thursday pre-conference meeting,
- conference tote bags,
- cyber cafe,
- labeled bottled water,
- continental breakfast,
- badge lanyards and
- networking breaks.
Thanks to National Surgical Care, the first company to acquire a sponsorship. National Surgical Care is a rapidly expanding company with terrific leadership; it is sponsoring the conference at a glance that will be distributed to all attendees at the conference. For more information on NSC, e-mail Rick Pence.
Download a conference prospectus here. As always, our full-year ASC Review advertisers receive a discount on exhibiting and sponsorships. For information, e-mail Scott Becker, and he will direct you to your ASC Communications account manager, or call (800) 417-2035, or e-mail Jessica Cole, Emily Noyes or Ryan Kiernan directly.
Thank you, new and returning advertisers. We are delighted to have added Amkai, a leading software development firm, as our newest full-year advertiser. Please e-mail Craig Veach for more information.
We are also thankful that so many of our full-year advertisers have returned for another year. We are delighted that Surgery Consultants and Serbin Surgery Center Billing, a leading coding and billing company, have expanded their advertisements to a full-page in the ASC Review.
We also welcome back perennial industry leaders such as John Vick at ASCs Inc., which guides ASCs in joining with corporate partners; new advertiser Roger Manning at Manning Search Group, a leading executive search firm; Jack Amormino at architecture, design, planning and development firm AMB Development; as well as Tom Jacobs and his leadership at MedHQ, which provides payroll and HR services. We also thank Greg Koonsman, Jon O'Sullivan, and and their team at VMG Health, as well as Todd Mello and Curtis Bernstein at HealthCare Appraisers.
We also thank each of Kaye/Bassman and Greg Zoch, who heads up a leading search firm and spends a lot of his time on ASCs and search matters. And we'd also like to thank Surgical Notes, led by Dennis Blankenship and Jeff Blankenship, a leading nationwide provider of medical transcription, coding, and other related value-added information technology services for the ASC market.
Welcome Physicians Capital, which provides loans to physicians based on future earnings from their ownership interests in ASCs. Contact Doug Lewis for more information. We also welcome Access MediQuip, a leading provider of outsourced medical implantable device management solutions to the healthcare industry. For more information, e-mail Bill Cramer.
We also welcome Care Credit, which helps patients finance procedures, and Rob Morris. And thank you to leading medical laundry company Medtegrity Medical Laundary Network. For more information on upgrading your linen supplier, contact David Potack at (888) 546-3650. Thank you.
Looking ahead: March/April issue of Becker's ASC Review. Our March/April issue will focus on several key topics:
- Establishing an ASC -- A Primer from A to Z;
- Tips for Profitable Endoscopy in ASCs;
- Key Products for GI;
- Hospital-Physician Joint-Ventures: Current Tips for Success; and
- the Orthopedics and Spine Medical Device Market Letter.
The June conference brochure will also be included. If you would like to contribute, please e-mail Stephanie Wasek or call her at (484) 866-1292.
To ensure you don't miss an issue of the Becker's ASC Review, please subscribe! Visit www.BeckersASC.com or call (800) 417-2035.
Healthcare conference of interest. We are delighted that Outpatient Outlook 2008, an event focused on outpatient care and industry leaders as a whole is advertising with the ASC Review as well. This is not an ASC Communications event, but is presented by a5, a Chicago-based firm with significant healthcare and event marketing experience. For more information, e-mail John Harris or visit Outpatient Outlook online.