Beth LaBouyer, executive director of California Ambulatory Surgery Association, joined Becker’s to discuss market dynamics of the state.
Question: How would you characterize the current market dynamics of ASCs in your state in terms of competition and consolidation?
Beth LaBouyer: California is very large and diverse with different market dynamics in different areas of the state. In general, there is a high level of healthy market competition amongst the ASC industry. It’s also important to note that California has been ahead of the curve with hospital and ASC cooperation and partnerships. In California, ASCs and health systems have been collaborating for many years, providing increased resources and access to care for patients, particularly in rural communities.
Q: What does the relationship between ASCs and growing hospitals and health systems look like in your state?
BL: ASCs in California have been working collaboratively with hospitals and health systems for years, and those partnerships continue to grow. Health systems recognize the value of ASCs and their role in improving access to care and want to partner with surgery centers. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, ASCs helped hospitals navigate patient care needs and provide continued access to safe surgical care. Even more recently, we saw the benefit of these partnerships during the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles when ASCs and hospitals coordinated to ensure continuity of care.
Q: How do demographic factors in your state, such as an aging population or rural-urban disparities, impact ASC operations and patient access?
A: California’s large rural population and significant number of low-income patients make access to care a pressing issue. Low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates hinder ASC viability. Additionally, with nearly half of the U.S. population projected to have cardiovascular disease by 2035, demand for timely cardiac procedures is growing. A recent report by ECG Management Consultants looked at key California markets and found that the length of time between initial patient outreach to a cardiologist to the time of a patient’s [cardiac catheterization] or [percutaneous coronary intervention] procedure can be as long as five months. So updating California law to allow ASCs to provide these procedures would significantly improve access to care while reducing costs. California’s growing and aging population is going to need an increasing level of healthcare and surgical care — and ASCs have to be part of the solution.
