The ASC market is poised for continued growth amid the consumerization of healthcare and the transition to value-based care, according to Global Healthcare Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on healthcare mergers and acquisitions.
GHA's latest ASC market report was shared with Becker's ASC Review by J.C. Lupis, managing director of GHA's research platform.
Six takeaways on market tailwinds and headwinds:
1. The ability to provide high-quality, low-cost care aligns ASCs with commercial insurers as they move away from fee-for-service models.
2. Site-neutral payments, price transparency measures, ASC rate increases and new additions to the ASC-payable list are among a slew of regulatory steps encouraging the migration of procedures to ASCs.
3. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to accelerate the migration from hospital outpatient departments to ASCs due to patients' fears of exposure in hospital settings.
4. The pandemic also caused dramatic reductions to ASC volumes, insurance uncertainty and adoption of high-deductible health plans, which could hinder case growth.
5. As the ASC market becomes more saturated in some states, and as hospital mergers grow larger, centers are facing tougher competition.
6. The Medicare Payment Commission proposed substantially expanding the metrics used in the ASC Quality Reporting Program, which could improve confidence in ASCs' safety at the cost of heavier administrative burden.
Click here to download the ASC market report.