Addison, Texas-based United Surgical Partners International, a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare, had a strong 2021. Here are 10 developments to know over the last 12 months:
1. USPI closed its $1.2 billion acquisition of SurgCenter Development in December. The deal includes ownership interest in 86 ASCs. Before the acquisition, USPI had acquired 67 ASCs from SurgCenter. The deal now gives USPI more than 440 surgical facilities in 35 states.
2. In the third quarter of 2021, USPI saw 17.8 percent year-over-year growth. This increase is primarily related to higher volumes, higher patient acuity, new service line growth and additional revenue from acquiring 45 ASCs from SurgCenter Development in December 2020.
3. In the first half of 2021, USPI added a total of 1,100 physicians to its medical staff, with 570 of them being onboarded in the second quarter.
4. Some USPI surgery centers canceled procedures in the first quarter because of COVID-19 and winter storm Yuri. However, 90 percent of those cases were recovered. The first quarter also saw growth, with 16 USPI centers adding new service lines.
5. Total joint services grew 120 percent in the second quarter and its spine business grew 21 percent during that period.
6. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare finalized the $80 million sale of its urgent care platform to FastMed in April. The urgent care platform was managed by Tenet subsidiary United Surgical Partners International.
7. Matt Wheelus was named regional vice president of operations at USPI in April.
8. In May, USPI renewed its five-year partnership with HealthTrust, a national group purchasing organization. The partnership will help elevate USPI's supply performance and support clinical operations. USPI is the largest ASC platform in the country, with approximately 450 facilities in the U.S.
9. In an Oct. 21 third-quarter earnings call transcribed by The Motley Fool, Saum Sutaria, MD, CEO of parent company Tenet Healthcare, credited much of USPI's success to its ownership model.
The model allows the company to "deploy capital on both mature centers and centers that are still developing, but actually generate returns faster as a better natural owner that is going to expand the set of opportunities for us at USPI," he said.
10. In October, USPI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Compass Surgical Partners' ownership and management interests in nine ASCs.