1. Decreased competition between the hospital and the ASC. ASCs and hospitals that operate in areas saturated with providers may experience decreasing patient loads — a dangerous trend if revenues are already low. “There can be some markets where it’s very difficult for an ASC to operate, much less a hospital,” Mr. Miller says. “By integrating a hospital and an ASC, you automatically eliminate that competition.”
2. Greater alignment between hospitals physicians. Mr. Miller says hospitals are increasingly seeing that a venture with a surgery center can lead to greater integration of physicians. “This particularly applies in states where hospitals are not permitted to employ doctors,” he says. “Having a venture where doctors are already owners and are involved in a facility is a great way to learn how to manage facilities together.” If the surgery center is managed by physicians, the hospital may want to include the physicians in the administrative workings of the hospital as well. By incorporating physician managers into the hospital administration, a hospital can ensure a physician voice in decisions that affect the ASC and create better relationships with physicians who work in the surgery center.
3. Easier patient transitions improve quality of care. If an ASC is integrated with a hospital, it becomes easier to transition patients between the hospital and the surgery center as needed. “Patients who go to the ASC may need to go to the hospital later for complications,” Mr. Miller says. “If that care is integrated, [quality of care] improves” because physicians have immediate access to the patient’s medical history. The hospital and the ASC will also know exactly which equipment and supplies have been used on the patient because of the partnership.
Mr. Miller adds that in the age of electronic health records, a joint venture between an ASC and a hospital can make it easier to connect different providers. Physicians who work in the hospital and the ASC have their patients’ medical record available as soon as they start work, preventing messy transitions and unnecessary re-entering of information.
4. Shared capital. If a hospital and physicians pursue a joint venue together, they’re both putting up capital, which reduces the financial strain on both parties, Mr. Miller says. “It’s tough to get loans and capital from third parties, and hospitals are looking for doctors to help with capital investment,” he says. “The law requires doctors to participate, and if they’re going to be a fifty percent owner, that means they’ll be responsible for fifty percent of the equity.”
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