The average net working capital of ASCs is $1.3 million per year, a benchmark of a surgery center's financial health, according to the VMG Health's "Intellimarker 2022" report.
Surgery centers aim to have enough working capital to cover costs and prepare for growth. Median days cash on hand is 39.8 days, varying slightly among different U.S. regions. ASCs in the Mountain region have the fewest days cash on hand, about 33, and surgery centers in the South have the most days cash on hand, 49.6.
The net working capital, the difference between a surgery center's assets and liabilities, also varies.
A breakdown of median net working capital for ASCs by region:
Atlantic: $1.2 million
Midwest: $1.3 million
Mountain: $1.5 million
Northeast: $1.2 million
Pacific: $1.2 million
South: $1.4 million
The net working capital is about 12 percent of the net operating revenue overall for surgery centers. The typical ASC's balance sheet shows most are able to cover costs, but margins remain tight, as expenses increase without a similar rate boost from insurers.
Many ASCs are planning to invest in new capital equipment in the coming months, including surgical robots and other clinical technology. Other surgery centers are thinking about expansion as the number of insured patients needing nonemergency surgery in some communities grows. Surgery centers are also making room in their budgets for new IT systems and data analytics software to boost operational efficiency and prepare for more value-based contracts.