Atlas Healthcare Partners, which just announced that it’s teaming up with Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services to develop and operate a network of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), is far from finished with its recent joint-venture spree. In fact, the joint venture with Fairview is the sixth such partnership unveiled by Atlas, and more announcements are coming soon. “We also recently finalized an ASC relationship with a large system that will be announced in the near future,” Atlas … [Read more...]

Although Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: CYH) missed its earnings target in the first quarter of 2026, executives expressed enthusiasm about the company’s recent efforts to grow its ambulatory surgery center (ASC) portfolio. Before diving into the Tennessee-based health system’s financial results during an April 21 earnings call, Community Health Systems CEO Kevin Hammons noted his company recently made some “significant investments in ambulatory surgery centers in our core … [Read more...]

ChristianaCare, US Health Partners team up to build cardiovascular ASC  Delaware-based health system ChristianaCare, through a joint venture with US Health Partners, plans to open a new cardiovascular ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in late 2027. The 9,000-square-foot, $9.3 million facility will be located across from Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. It will offer services such as diagnostic heart catheterizations, coronary and peripheral vascular interventions, ablation procedures, … [Read more...]

Allstate and three affiliated insurers have sued Surgery Partners Inc. (Nasdaq: SGRY), its anesthesia subsidiary and several Florida ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Broadly, Allstate is alleging Surgery Partners and the other named parties participated in a years-long scheme to submit fraudulent bills for medically unnecessary, unlawfully rendered or unperformed services tied to auto insurance claims. “We strongly disagree with Allstate’s factually inaccurate and legally deficient … [Read more...]

Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: CYH) is continuing to build out its ambulatory surgery center (ASC) footprint, opening new facilities and adding ownership stakes in existing centers as it pushes further into outpatient care. The Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems announced April 20 that its subsidiaries have opened de novo ASCs in Birmingham and Foley, Alabama, and acquired a majority ownership interest in South Anchorage Surgery Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Those moves … [Read more...]

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is sending health care stakeholders – including the providers it works with – a two-part message. First, executives want providers to know that prior authorization isn’t going away any time soon, but that UnitedHealth Group is trying to make the practice faster and less frequent. Separately, the health care giant and its care-delivery arm – Optum – are increasingly focused around steering patients away from higher-cost settings. Both themes, laid out during … [Read more...]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to expand its Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model nationwide. The move aims to revive and broaden a Medicare bundle that could reshape the competitive landscape for orthopedic ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), even though ASCs are not directly included. Under the proposal, a new model dubbed “CJR-X” would begin Oct. 1, 2027 and would be mandatory for most acute care hospitals paid under the inpatient … [Read more...]

Tennessee lawmakers are advancing another rewrite of the state’s Certificate-of-Need (CON) framework, though this time the effort is aimed mostly at hospitals and hospital-adjacent services rather than ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) directly. House Bill 0819 and Senate Bill 1369 would remove CON requirements for acute care hospitals, satellite emergency departments and cardiac catheterization services. Under the amended legislation, the acute care hospital CON repeal would take effect … [Read more...]

Michigan is one of the latest states to consider legislation that would restrict facility fees from health care entities, including ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). It’s a trend that began to surface in 2023, according to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). And there’s little to suggest it’s a trend that will slow down in the near future. Michigan HB 5770, introduced last month by state Reps. Curtis VanderWall and Reggie Miller, would prohibit health care providers from … [Read more...]

Several dozen companies focused on musculoskeletal care have been approved to participate in a new federal payment model designed to manage chronic conditions outside traditional settings. While much still needs to be learned in terms of how the model will play out over time, for ambulatory surgery center (ASC) stakeholders, it’s a development worth watching. In the not-too-distant future, it could impact how Medicare patients with chronic pain are treated before they ever reach a … [Read more...]