Mass General Brigham has announced a new collaboration with Regent Surgical.
The collaboration – unveiled Tuesday – is aimed at expanding ambulatory surgery center (ASC) capabilities across New England.
The joint effort seeks to reduce wait times, enhance patient access and lower costs by moving more procedures into high-quality, lower-cost outpatient settings, executives from both organizations said in a press release.
Massachusetts has the fewest ASCs per capita nationwide.
“Patients in the communities we serve often travel long distances and face long wait times for procedures in our hospitals that are much better suited to an outpatient setting,” Dr. Ron Walls, chief operating officer of Mass General Brigham, said in a statement.
While there is no specific information on how many ambulatory surgery centers Mass General Brigham operates, the integrated health system offers outpatient care across several of its facilities and hospitals in Massachusetts.
Some of its centers include Newton-Wellesley Outpatient Surgery Center and the Outpatient Surgery Center in Waltham.
“With this collaboration, we are investing in our patients and our doctors, with the goals of easing our capacity crisis, reducing wait times for important, low-acuity procedures, strengthening outcomes, improving patient and provider experiences, and reducing cost,” Walls continued.
The collaboration between Mass General and Regent will offer services including orthopedic, minor surgical, ophthalmological and endoscopic procedures, which all have excessive wait times, largely driven by the scarcity of ASCs in New England, according to the organizations.
Tennessee-based Regent Surgical operates and manages ASC locations across 13 states in partnership with health systems.
“Regent is honored to create this partnership that will deliver lasting value for patients, physicians and the broader communities Mass General Brigham serves,” Travis Messina, chief executive officer of Regent, said in a statement.
Other Regent partners include Universal Health Services, OhioHealth, Memorial Health System and several additional organizations.
“Our partnership with MGB will accomplish this goal by creating appropriate, convenient spaces for needed services that prioritize the patient both clinically and compassionately, which ultimately ensures the highest quality outcomes and peace of mind,” Messina continued. “This is reflected in the willingness of 93% of our patients to recommend Regent ASCs to a family or friend.”
In recent months, Regent has worked to beef up its leadership team.
In February, the company announced that Kendall Hagood would take on the role of chief commercial officer, with Riley Orr also promoted to the COO position.
In June, Regent also announced that Christa Blumenshine was joining the company as its next CFO.
