Here are 10 updates on Surgical Care Affiliates, an Optum company.
1. Surgical Care Affiliates facilities generate more than $2 billion in revenue in normal operating times, which has allowed the company to invest in systems and processes to measure outcomes and results.
2. The ASC company has 230 surgical facilities in 35 states and more than 8,000 physicians affiliated with its centers.
3. The company has several partnerships with health systems and payers, including Virtua, Advocate Health Care, UnityPoint Health, UnitedHealthcare,Texas Health Resources, Cigna, CHI Health and Indiana University Health.
4. SCA continues to open centers amid the pandemic; most recently, its affiliate First Coast Surgery Center opened in Jacksonville, Fla. The surgery center includes seven orthopedic surgeons focusing on sports medicine, spine and total knee and hip replacements in addition to other orthopedic subspecialties.
5. During the pandemic, SCA postponed most cases at ASCs but is now resuming elective cases at its centers.
6. In April, St. Louis Cardiovascular Institute, St. Louis Specialty Surgical Center and Surgical Care Affiliates entered into a partnership to provide outpatient cardiovascular care in St. Louis. The partnership is focused on establishing an outpatient cardiovascular to expand interventional and peripheral vascular surgical options.
7. For the first quarter of 2020, SCA's parent company Optum reported $32.8 billion in revenue, a 24.6 percent increase year over year. OptumHealth, where SCA resides, reported nearly 37 percent revenue growth to $9.2 billion.
8. In the first quarter, OptumHealth served around 96 million people and reported 33 percent increase in revenue per consumer, largely due to value-based arrangements.
9. During the pandemic, OptumCare shifted 4,000 physicians to telehealth due to COVID-19 safety concerns. Optum is also reportedly in talks to acquire virtual therapy provider AbleTo for $470 million.
10. Caitlin Zulla became CEO of Surgical Care Affiliates in December 2019 and has big plans for the company. In a February 2020 interview with Becker's, she talked about the importance of partnerships for SCA's future. "I'm focused on deepening our partnerships with Optum, which also includes primary care," she said. "Some of their contracts are full risk and some are fee for service, but they are all looking for meaningful solutions to reduce the total cost of care and improve quality for patients. We are thinking through how to align and become a high value ecosystem. SCA is a huge part of that."
She also said Optum expects to develop more health system partnerships like they did with Minneapolis-based Allina Health Systems to develop ASCs.