Physicians, ASCs and health systems alike have been rattled by — and relieved to learn about — recent changes in healthcare.
Here are three pieces of good news and three pieces of bad news for ASC administrators to know in 2024:
The good
1. CMS projected total ASC payments will hit about $7.1 billion in 2024, an increase of about $207 million compared to estimated 2023 Medicare payments, according to a recent report from VMG Health.
2. Independent ASCs are going strong. In 2023, 68% of the ASC market was independent, according to the VMG report.
3. The mean annual salary of outpatient administrators is $122,870, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is 66% greater than the average annual salary of all workers in the U.S., which is $61,900.
The bad
1. Private equity transactions in healthcare decreased by 16.2% last year compared to the previous year.
2. Private practice among physicians is becoming more rare. In 2022, just 26% of physicians practiced privately, according to a report from Avalere. This could make it more difficult for ASCs to remain competitive in physician staffing without the backing of large health systems.
3. Healthcare has the most unfilled jobs of any industry, with 335,017 open job listings posted nationally, according to a new study from law firm Schmidt & Clark. The study analyzed more than 2.3 million job listings posted to Indeed from Feb. 1-14.