Some of the ASC industry's biggest players — AmSurg, HCA Healthcare, SCA Health, Surgery Partners and United Surgical Partners International — have seen explosive growth in the last year.
Here is a recap of the recent moves made by five industry giants:
AmSurg (Nashville, Tenn.)
Last year, AmSurg ASCs became in-network with Aetna after its then-parent company Envision Healthcare signed a multiyear deal with the insurer. This made the group's 256 ASCs accessible to both Aetna's more than 56 million subscribers.
HCA Healthcare (Nashville)
HCA Healthcare's ASC arm Surgery Ventures opened a joint venture ASC, Silicon Valley Surgery Center, in Campbell, Calif., with more than 50 physicians.
The company's Midwest branch also recently wrapped up construction on a $9.3 million ASC in Kansas City, Mo., and is working on more ASC projects in the area, adding to its 153 ASCs nationwide.
SCA Health (Deerfield, Ill.)
Optum, the parent company of SCA Health and the country's largest employer of physicians, intends to acquire Dallas-based Steward Health Care's physician group. The group is made up of 1,700 physicians across nine states, adding to the 20,000 physicians it added in 2023.
Optum also received approval to bypass a state review of its planned purchase of physician-owned Corvallis (Ore.) Clinic in wake of the physician group's financial issues.
Lawmakers have expressed concern about the Steward deal. "Optum, a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, is already the largest employer of physicians in the country — controlling over 10% of American doctors — which means this deal raises significant antitrust concerns in Massachusetts and nationally," Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a statement.
SCA Health and Palomar Health also opened an ASC in Escondido, Calif.
Surgery Partners (Nashville)
Surgery Partners partnered with three health systems in 2023: Columbus-based Ohio Health, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health and Dallas-based Methodist Health System. This year, it has partnered with Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Parkview Health to develop ASC joint ventures across the state.
The company also acquired Kansas Spine & Specialty Hospital in Wichita, Kan., adding to its 192 ASC affiliates across the U.S.
USPI (Dallas)
In 2023, Tenet, USPI's parent company, acquired controlling interest in 20 ASCs and 11 previously unconsolidated ASCs for $149 million. As of Dec. 31, USPI has interest in 480 ASCs and surgical hospitals across 35 states — and it does not intend to stop there.
"Tenet is entering a new era with a greater proportion of our performance coming from our highly efficient ambulatory surgical business and a reduced debt profile," CEO and Chair Saum Sutaria, MD, said in a company earnings call. "We will have significant financial and capital flexibility to increase shareholder value over the long-term."
According to Dr. Sutaria, the company has more than 30 de novo ASCs in development and plans to continue its trajectory of putting $200 million to $250 million into ASC mergers and acquisitions a year.
USPI also expanded its partnership with Renton, Wash.-based Providence to develop additional ASCs and entered into a definitive agreement with Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, selling three Tenet hospitals in South Carolina but continuing to operate the ASCs in the markets.