Surgical specialties have seen a 5.5% increase in pay in the last year, according to the American Medical Group Association's 2024 Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey. 

After UnitedHealth Group, parent company of Optum, reached 90,000 affiliated physicians at the end of 2023, it became the largest employer of physicians in the U.S. — sparking industrywide discussions of the risks of consolidation and monopolies. While the company has acquired physician practices and ASCs this year, it has also ended service lines and offloaded centers.

Renton, Wash.-based Providence has alerted 2,200 patients of possible exposure to  hepatitis B and C and HIV after the health system's infection control practices may not have been followed by an anesthesiologist. 

Columbus-based OhioHealth ise opening a medical office space featuring 18 discrete physician clinics, according to a press release from the system. 

Pueblo, Colo.-based Rocky Mountain Eye Center plans to shutter all of its clinics July 31 following 32 years of operation, according to a July 12 report from The Pueblo Chieftain.

Becker's connected with Mel Ona, MD, chair and medical director of gastroenterology at Pali Momi Medical Center in Aiea, Hawaii,  to find out what recent decision has paid off the most at his ASC. 

Facing increasing obstacles to access economies of scale, including rising practice costs and decreasing reimbursement, physician groups are increasingly consolidating. 

Earlier this year, Congress reduced physician pay rates under Medicare Part B by 1.7%, following a 2% cut in physician reimbursements in 2023. 

Nearly half of physicians are in support of accepting more Medicare patients at their practice, according to Medscape's 2024 "Medscape Doctors Evaluate Medicare and Medicaid Report 2024," published July 12. 

In June, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced legislation targeting "corporate greed and private equity abuse" in the healthcare industry. 

The ASC market in the U.S. is projected to reach $60.8 billion by 2030, up from the most recent valuation of $40.4 billion from 2023.

CMS released proposals to update cardiovascular disease risk assessment and risk management services.

The Johnson City (Tenn.) Eye Surgery Center has broken ground on a new ASC, according to a July 11 report from CBS affiliate WJHL.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System affiliate UAB Medical West has opened a 127,000-square-foot, seven-story medical office building.

Although the ASC industry is largely fragmented, independence is becoming increasingly difficult as practice costs soar and healthcare consolidates. 

St. Louis-based Ascension saw a $3 billion operating loss in fiscal year 2023, and its sustainability strategy includes selling off major hospitals in their system.  

CMS proposed a 2.8% conversion factor reduction to its physician fee schedule for 2025 July 10. 

Newsweek has opened a survey for its fifth-annual "Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers" ranking for 2025. 

Florence, S.C.-based McLeod Health  is expanding its campus to include an ASC, News13 reported July 9.

ASCs are a unique care setting that are affected by trends such as consolidation, market shifts and other industry-wide changes differently than their hospital counterparts.