Jefferson City (Mo.) Medical Group plans to move into a $17 million, 28,000-square-foot surgery center this spring, the New Tribune reported Jan. 30.
The ASC comprises four operating rooms, two endoscopy rooms and a procedure room, which will be used for gastrointestinal or spine procedures, injections and cataract surgeries, among others. The facility is also equipped with three bays, each of which contain four private preoperative rooms.
Medicare, commercial payers and patients are pushing procedures to ambulatory settings, where they can be done at a lower cost, which is a key reason why Jefferson City Medical Group invested in the expansion, Jeffrey Patrick, MD, the group's president, told the News Tribune.
Dr. Patrick said insurers are "insisting" that higher-acuity procedures such as spine surgeries and joint replacements are done in the outpatient setting.
The ASC will also feature newer technologies that will benefit patient care and attract more physicians to the medical group, according to Jonathan Craighead, MD, orthopedic surgeon and secretary of the group, which has more than 65 physicians, according to its website.
"People want to feel they're practicing in a place that is up to date and cutting edge," Dr. Craighead told the publication. "Nobody likes working with old equipment and antiquated systems. I'm an orthopedic surgeon, I can speak to that. Anterior hip replacements is something that is a newer technique that we'll be able to do here."