CMS’ final 2026 outpatient payment rule added 560 codes to the ASC covered procedures list and began a three-year sunset of the inpatient-only list. The changes widened the pool of cases ASCs can take.
Health systems want the same cases. New Orleans-based Ochsner Health is going after them at Ochsner Medical Complex-The Grove, a $50 million outpatient campus in Baton Rouge, La., that opened in 2019 and recently expanded its surgical floor.
Chuck Daigle, CEO of Ochsner Baton Rouge and Ochsner Christus Health Centers in Lake Charles, La., framed the market around the outpatient aspects of the organization.
“Probably 70% plus of our business is outpatient and ambulatory care in the Greater Baton Rouge area,” Mr. Daigle told Becker’s. “We’re anchored with a medium-sized hospital, about a total 160-bed hospital here, again not the largest hospital in the Baton Rouge area but a large platform for outpatient ambulatory care, population health, wellness.”
The Grove’s expansion was built to take more of that outpatient volume into its operating rooms.
“With the expansion and again, total expansion within the operative area, we’ve really gone from eight to 14 operative theaters,” Mr. Daigle said. “Now, we’ve doubled the size of our large operating rooms, so we’ve gone from four to eight large operating rooms, and then we’ve added two additional procedure rooms.”
The case mix has shifted with that capacity.
“Even five years ago at the Grove when it opened, we weren’t doing comprehensive knee replacements, comprehensive shoulder replacements. All of those things are ongoing. Most of them are same-day procedures moving forward,” Mr. Daigle said. “We’re obviously doing most of the advanced laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomies. Those are occurring there. We’ve also added a host of gyn-oncology procedures, a little more advanced there.”
Case selection still runs through hospital-style guardrails.
“When you look at it, there are anesthesia guidelines in terms of the facility. Although it does operate as an outpatient hospital department, from an ambulatory surgery standpoint, we do make sure, and our anesthesiologist as well as our surgery subcommittees really define criteria in terms of what level of care we’re willing to provide,” he said.
Partnerships with physician groups and surgeons within the community are a key component of the expansion’s success and reach, Mr. Daigle said. One of those groups is behind some of the Grove’s more complex spine work.
“Another partnership we have, Neuromedical Center, really again supplementing our group practice, is a group of neuro and spine surgeons that work with us,” Mr. Daigle said. “They cover our hospital for neuro transfers, some cranial bleeds, do some hospital work, but also do some comprehensive spine surgery throughout the region. At the hospital campus, but also at the Grove as well. Some of this expansion at the Grove has led to some new procedures, some more complex procedures that we’ve been able to do there.”
The two procedure rooms added in the expansion are positioned for interventional work, a service line many ASCs are also pursuing.
“We position those additional procedure rooms to be able to move forward with some additional outpatient cardiology services, interventional diagnostic and interventional cath, interventional vascular as well as interventional radiology,” Mr. Daigle said.
For outpatient leaders planning a similar build, Mr. Daigle’s advice came back to the people using the space.
“You’ve got to make sure that the design fits the clinician’s workflow and the patient’s experience,” he said. “So patient experience and clinician workflow, I think, go hand in hand.”
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
