Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare continues to double down on developing outpatient facilities and increasing outpatient procedure migration, according to an April 21 first-quarter earnings call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
"We continue to invest in our outpatient footprint," Bill Rutherford, HCA's CFO, said during the call. "That should help drive reasonable outpatient surgical growth."
Here are three more notes to know:
1. Total outpatient procedures jumped 5 percent and outpatient cardiology procedures increased 7 percent.
2. Surgical volumes in HCA's hospital outpatient units were up slightly more in the first quarter than ASCs, according to the call.
3. The company has a "more significant investment" in its ASC development pipeline, as well as possible acquisitions in the works, CEO Sam Hazen said.