Here are four must-read articles for ASC leaders this week:
1. The American Medical Association publishes the Current Procedural Terminology code set changes every year, usually in September, for the upcoming year. Changes include 38 new codes, 35 revised code descriptions and 17 deleted codes. Read more here.
2. Check-Cap reported final results from its U.S. pilot study of its C-Scan System, a preparation-free colorectal cancer detection system. Researchers evaluated the C-Scan System on a pilot basis. Forty patients ingested a C-Scan capsule before undergoing a fecal immunochemical test and a comparative colonoscopy. Twenty-eight of the patients were evaluable. Read more here.
3. ASC operator Optum finalized a partnership with Allina Health System in Minneapolis in December, paving the way for the development of up to a dozen surgery centers in the next five years. Read more here.
4. The U.S. Justice Department joined a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Indianapolis-based Community Health Network illegally paid physicians for referrals to its hospitals, ASCs and other facilities. Read more here.
5. McLaren Greater Lansing, a subsidiary of Grand Blanc, Mich.-based McLaren Health Care, has bought a majority stake in two surgery centers. Read more here.