As the healthcare landscape continues to shift, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are emerging as a vital solution within the broader care continuum. With their ability to deliver high-quality care at lower costs, ASCs are well-positioned to grow in both volume and value. We explore five key market trends that ASCs can leverage to strengthen their position, increase efficiency, and drive long-term success.
1. Continued recognition of ASCs as a lower-cost care setting. ASCs help reduce costs for patients and payers alike which is why many payers continue to steer volume to the ASC setting. In fact, ambulatory surgery center trends indicate outpatient surgical volumes are projected to reach 109.6 million cases by 2033, which represents an 18% increase from 2023 levels.
What to do now: As surgical volumes shift from inpatient to outpatient settings, having enough administrative staff to support growing clinical demands will be paramount. Without adequate support, including billing and call center assistance, ASCs may find themselves facing cashflow bottlenecks, claim denials, and patient dissatisfaction. Prioritizing the business side of healthcare, including embracing novel ways to recruit and retain staff and/or considering outsource partnerships, will be key.
2. Ongoing ASC expansion. As demand for ASC services continues to rise, the industry is seeing a corresponding increase in supply. This includes expanded partnerships, the growth of consolidated ASC networks, and significant investments from private equity firms and hospitals aimed at boosting outpatient surgical capacity and lowering costs. At the same time, several states are gaining momentum in efforts to reform or repeal Certificate of Need (CON) laws which remove regulatory barriers and making it easier for new ASCs to enter the market.
What to do now: As ASC competition heats up, ASCs must differentiate themselves to attract new patients and retain existing ones. One way to do this is to offer a stellar customer service experience, particularly at the front-end during scheduling and on the back-end with patient collections. The sooner ASCs explore strategies to cater to the consumer experience (e.g., online scheduling, pre-op education portals, and mobile engagement tools), the better.
3. Shift to value based care payment models. ASCs are increasingly paid based on quality metrics, and failing to meet these metrics can result in payment reductions.
What to do now: To leverage ASC market trends toward quality-based payments, ASCs must invest in quality improvement programs and data tracking to help them achieve performance targets. In addition, ASCs must also invest in patient engagement. Leveraging highly-skilled call center agents to engage patients in their own care, including post-operative and chronic care is an effective strategy.
4. Increased push for price transparency. The latest price transparency guidance states ASCs must provide patients with actual prices of items and services, not estimates. As part of broader efforts to reduce waste, avoiding redundant testing and streamlining administrative workflows can help increase patient satisfaction, empowering patients to choose appropriate care options rather than unnecessary services.
What to do now: With current ambulatory surgery center trends, ASCs must use tools and technology to boost operational performance and ensure compliance with cost reporting standards. Leveraging call center agents can also help. Agents can answer patients’ billing questions in a timely manner and direct them to payment plans and financial assistance, when appropriate.
5. Specialty-specific revenue growth. Orthopedics is the top specialty for revenue growth in ASCs, according to recent ASC market trends. However, other specialties, such as pain management, otolaryngology, dental/periodontal, gynecology, ophthalmology, and gastroenterology continue to grow.
What to do now: Given these ambulatory surgery center trends, ASCs must ensure they have the right specialty-specific medical coding and billing support to submit clean claims and avoid denials for these in-demand specialties. Focusing on revenue integrity, key performance indicators, and timely claim submission will be the key to success in the long run.
Leveraging ASC market trends with the help of an outsource partner. Current and emerging ambulatory surgery center trends all support partnering with an outsource revenue cycle vendor that can promote growth and expansion. Offshore vendors, in particular, offer the flexibility and expertise that ASCs need as they ramp up service lines, merge and acquire additional facilities, and seek to improve patient engagement. Learn how Global Health Resources can help.