Ophthalmology practice Collins Vision has expanded its footprint in Southwest Florida by acquiring the Eye Care and Surgery Center of Southwest Florida in Punta Gorda.  This move allows the practice to broaden its reach into Charlotte County, enhancing access to personalized eye care for the growing community, executives said in a press release.  The acquisition, spearheaded by Collins Vision founder and Medical Director Dr. Michael J. Collins, marks a strategic expansion into a region … [Read more...]

Same-day surgery centers across the country will soon be required to administer the OAS CAHPS survey, a comprehensive tool developed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to assess patient satisfaction following outpatient surgeries. The survey asks 34 questions covering various aspects of patient experience, including communication with medical staff, facility cleanliness, preparation for discharge and recovery, and overall satisfaction with the care received. It … [Read more...]

For operators looking to open up a new ambulatory surgery center (ASC), it takes more than just funding, a strategic plan, or even a strong clinical team. In many markets, regulatory stars need to align as well. A certificate of need (CON), for instance, is a regulatory document required in some states before health care facilities, including ASCs, can be constructed, expanded, or significantly altered.  For ASC operators, the CON process presents both opportunities and challenges. On one … [Read more...]

PRISM Vision Group (PVG), a New Jersey-based eye care services organization, has announced its latest partnership with Friendship Ambulatory Surgery Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland.  The collaboration marks PVG’s seventh ambulatory surgery center (ASC) as the company continues to grow in the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia) area. The Friendship Ambulatory Surgery Center, a 7,000-square-foot facility with four operating rooms, specializes in multi-specialty ophthalmic … [Read more...]

Atrium Health’s latest ASC development Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is planning to expand its presence in the Innovation Quarter in in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with a new multispecialty ambulatory surgery center (ASC), pending approval from state health regulators. According to reporting in the Winston-Salem Journal, the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation recently posted Baptist's certificate-of-need (CON) application, which outlines plans to relocate two operating rooms … [Read more...]

For Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC), 2024 has been a “transformative year.” In part, that transformation comes from Tenet making progress on its deleveraging goals by divesting hospital assets, a strategy that will, in turn, free the company up to execute on M&A opportunities and more moving forward. And at the same time, Tenet’s ambulatory surgery center (ASC) business – United Surgical Partners International (USPI) – continues to thrive, propelled by higher-acuity procedures shifting into … [Read more...]

The vast majority of ambulatory surgery center (ASC) operators participate in the Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program, a new industry survey suggests. The ASCQR Program requires ASCs to report specific quality measures to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) looked at participation in a recent survey, publishing results on Aug. 30. The survey collected 321 responses from surgery centers across … [Read more...]

In its 2025 proposed payment rule for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) floated a 2.6% increase to surgery center payments and adjustments to select quality-reporting measures. One thing CMS didn’t call for: key additions to the ASC Covered Procedures list for 2025. “It is disheartening that CMS established a new, supposedly more transparent process for submitting procedure codes that could be added to the ASC Covered Procedures … [Read more...]

Nashville-based SurgNet Health Partners is looking to expand, especially in underserved markets where there's a need for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Those markets will be critical as part of company’s growth and mission. “We want to be in the states that are underserved,” co-founder and CEO Chase Neal told ASC News. “That's really our focus, and where we're seeing deal activity is more in the Midwest, and the Upper East and the Southeast quadrants right now.” SurgNet Health … [Read more...]

The ambulatory surgery center (ASC) market has been experiencing significant growth, driven by evolving health care delivery models and the increasing need for cost-effective care. In August, large industry players ChristianaCare and Atlas Healthcare Partners formed a joint venture to create a major network of ASCs across Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The partnership aims to develop over 10 ASCs in the next five years.   And Nashville-based AMSURG, one of the largest ASC … [Read more...]