HealthTrust Purchasing Group — a healthcare performance improvement company with 40,000-plus member locations including ASCs and physician practices — acquired Resource Optimization & Innovation.

The more complex healthcare becomes, the more ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and surgical hospitals need to stay abreast of new trends—and understand how to turn them into new opportunities. To get started, here are some of the key drivers impacting the industry today.

Overhauling ASC supply chain operations may seem daunting, but it can be done in three easy steps, according to ASC management software developer Simplify ASC.

  ASCs should have a plan in place for continuing operations when a supply chain shortage occurs, according to Cheryl Poplaski, Vizient's senior director of supply chain operations.

Intuitive Surgical's executive vice president and chief operating officer plans to transition out of his role.

Just over half of ASCs say improving outcomes is the most important supply chain goal, according to 2018 data from the Health Industry Distributors Association. 

AcelRX Pharmaceuticals closed a $25 million senior secured debt facility, hoping to capitalize on the "high level of interest" its product has garnered from ASCs and other providers.

The migration of cases from acute care settings to ASCs is changing the way medical device companies approach implant contracting, according to Relatable Healthcare.

With a 13,000-square-foot ASC slated to open in November, The Orthopaedic Surgery Center tapped HSTpathways as its management software provider.

Alpharetta, Ga.-based Surgical Information Systems Chief Nursing Officer Ann Geier, RN, shared three tips for ASCs to improve inventory management practices on the company's blog.

Four ASCs were recognized for superior supply procurement by OpenMarkets, an online marketplace for healthcare equipment. 

Advancements in technology allow ASCs to perform surgeries that historically required hospitalization, according to Market Research Blog.

Outpatient practices can improve supply logistics by implementing a Kanban system, Intalere Senior Director of Enterprise Solutions Byron Zelin told Healthcare Purchasing News.

Lakewood, Colo.-based Pinnacle III relies on technology for risk management, patient satisfaction, quality monitoring and more, Director of Education Jean Day told the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.

Blockchain could be valuable to the healthcare supply chain industry, but providers and executives still have their reservations, according to John Kupice, CEO of the online marketplace H-Source.

Neil Olderman, partner at law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath, and president of Drinker Biddle & Reath's consulting firm Innovative Health Strategies, counsels hospital and health system clients on group purchasing arrangements, capital equipment acquisitions, as well as clinical and purchased services agreements.

Glaukos Corp.'s iStent inject is an implant designed to reduce intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma.

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals released its reports for the three and six-month fiscal periods which ended December 31, 2018.

Chesterfield, Mo.-based Medigroup outlined three supply chain tips for ASCs on their blog. 

Practice management software developer Simplify ASC aims to make all patients' medical records available in one electronic file, even though surgery centers aren't federally required to implement EHRs.