As the healthcare industry moves away from traditional fee-for-service incentives and reimbursement risk shifts from payers to providers, hospital systems are realizing the benefits of expanding ambulatory care platforms as a key element of their value-based care strategy.
“The fact that healthcare premiums have continued to escalate is proof that payers have not been successful at managing care,” says Chris Bishop, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Regent. “Shifting the risk to hospitals and providers aligns incentives with the quality and efficiency of care, not the volume of procedures, and presents a growth opportunity for hospitals who embrace this strategy.”
While in the past outpatient strategies were sometimes seen as cannibalizing hospital revenue, more and more hospitals now agree today’s economics favor ambulatory care, and they’re investing in ambulatory platforms. For example, there are 6,000 ASCs in the United States today, and Bishop estimates that number could grow to between 8,000 and 10,000 surgery centers within five years.
Expanding an ambulatory care platform can be accomplished a number of ways, from building to acquisition. “The best way is really ‘all of the above’,” Bishop says. “The first step is to gauge your current surgical volumes in the hospital: who are the patients that could be discharged home the same day?”
Regent’s approach is to identify surgical specialties that could be performed elsewhere – procedures like colonoscopies, joint replacements or spine, and then to take a look at quality physicians in the market associated with those specialties, including surgeons dedicated to one hospital and those splitting time with competing health systems. Depending on the geographic gaps, either forming a de novo ASC or acquiring a quality center already in existence may make sense for the health system to expand its’ service offering.
Leveraging unmatched experience in structuring and managing ASC joint ventures between hospitals and surgeons, Regent brings both parties together effectively so that their individual interests are correctly aligned and the resulting ambulatory ventures thrive and deliver growth.
To learn more about Regent’s approach to ambulatory care strategies, download our whitepaper, Outpatient Joint Replacement in Hospital/Surgeon ASC Joint Ventures & Two Additional Developments Transforming Surgery Center Strategies.
