Matthew Searles, MBA, partner at Merritt Healthcare Advisors, an ASC management and development firm that works with centers nationwide, shares the trends he is seeing in the ASC landscape today and in the future.
Mr. Searles will share his expertise as a speaker at the Becker's ASC Review 28th Annual Meeting: The Business & Operations of ASCs, October 27-29, 2022 in Chicago. To learn more and register, click here.
Question: What are the most important trends you're seeing in the ASC field today?
Matthew Searles: Continued migration higher acuity cases offset partially by movement of lower acuity cases to OBLs. Margin compression as reimbursement rates generally increase less than annual rates of increase of costs.
Q: What are the key challenges keeping ASC administrators up at night?
MS: This has not changed but the list gets longer. 1. Patient safety/Quality of service 2. Regulatory requirements/compliance and last in the order 3. Financial viability. You cannot have the last without the first 2.
Q: What are the top one or two solutions to the big challenges you're seeing for ASCs today?
MS: Professional management, alignment with other providers for scale. At some point ASCs will need to be part of a larger ecosystem that will allow them to go “at-risk” with payers, both government and private.
Q: Where is the best opportunity for ASCs to thrive in the future? What do they need to do today to set a solid foundation for success?
MS: Run the facility ethically with a focus on patient safety and cost effectiveness. Don’t just focus on the buck.
Q: How will private equity investment change the physician practice and ASC field?
MS: PE investment will continue the already significant move toward consolidation.
To learn more about Merritt Healthcare Advisors, click here.