United Surgical Partners International, Surgery Partners and SCA Health are three of the biggest ASC chains, and are looking to different avenues for growth in the coming years.
USPI:
USPI, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare's surgery center business, is the largest ASC chain in the country, with 410 surgery centers and 24 surgical hospitals in 34 states. It aims to have 575 to 600 ASCs by the end of 2025, according to a July 22 earnings call.
Tenet has been bolstering its ASC business to drive revenue, and this ASC focus is expected to continue. It has spent more than $2.5 billion in capital investment to scale USPI since December 2020 and expects to see 12 percent growth after acquiring interest in about 160 ASCs in under two years. USPI expects 2022 net operating revenue to rise to $3.2 billion or $3.3 billion, with surgical cases increasing 3 percent to 4 percent year over year.
According to the earnings call, USPI is also focused on partnering with larger physician practice platforms as a diversification and growth strategy. It will also continue to foster partnerships with health systems.
Additionally, at the end of June, Tenet acquired Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health's 5 percent equity position in USPI to own 100 percent of the company's voting shares.
Surgery Partners:
Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners has more than 180 facilities and 4,000 physicians.
This year, Surgery Partners expects to grow its earnings by $375 million to $385 million. During the second quarter, the company's revenue jumped 13.3 percent over last year's second quarter, to $615.4 million.
The company is focusing on value-based care partnerships — it inked a deal with ValueHealth in May to expand access to high-value surgical care. The partnership aims to build ASCs and deploy ValueHealth's value-based surgical programs at Surgery Partners' current and in-development locations.
Surgery Partners' growth in orthopedics is expected to merge with ValueHealth's musculoskeletal-focused programming to create a comprehensive suite of orthopedic services. The partnership will also try to capitalize on cardiology's migration to outpatient settings.
SCA Health:
Deerfield Ill.-based SCA Health, formerly Surgical Care Affiliates, is one of the largest ASC chains in the country and operates under parent company Optum.
The company is moving into specialty care — in May, Surgical Care Affiliates rebranded to SCA Health, with intentions to expand beyond ASC management. The company also updated its logo to symbolize growth momentum and added a tagline: "The future of specialty care."
Optum as a whole is looking towards value-based care. In June, Optum Ventures, CVS Ventures, Anthem and HLM Venture Partners announced they are investing in CareBridge, a value-based healthcare company for patients receiving home and community-based services.
Optum's $300 million purchase of Healthcare Associates of Texas, a Dallas-based physician practice management company, brings Optum's acquisition total spend this year to nearly $8 billion. Healthcare Associates of Texas offers family medicine, physical therapy, sleep medicine, a wellness clinic, pharmacy and lab and imaging service.