Many healthcare leaders have acknowledged that outpatient is the new inpatient — so how do ambulatory surgery centers affect the evolving strategies of hospitals and health systems?
At the Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 16, Kate Carow, principal of Carow Consulting, led a discussion on this topic with four panelists: Luke Lambert, CEO of Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America; Ronald Cottrell, vice president of planning and corporate development at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va.; Bill Woodson, senior vice president at Sg2; and Barry Zeman, a former hospital CEO and president of business development at Specialty Healthcare Advisers.
Mr. Zeman and Mr. Lambert said there are several key specialties that are growing in the ASC setting: orthopedics, spine surgery, sports medicine, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, ENT and general surgery. As physicians look to ASCs to perform these procedures, Mr. Lambert said the most progressive hospitals are proactively reaching out to those surgeons and partnering with them on ASC projects. "From the hospital perspective, there are a lot of good reasons for being involved in surgery centers," Mr. Lambert said.
"As cost pressures for hospitals mount, [moving into outpatient settings] is going to have to happen," Mr. Zeman added.
Mr. Woodson and Mr. Cottrell also said the rise of consumerism will push patients into looking at ASCs and outpatient facilities, which historically offer lower-cost treatments compared with hospitals. "Price is going to trump loyalty many times," Mr. Cottrell said. "Loyalty is relatively shallow once you have to start pulling out of your own pocket."
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