A woman has filed a $4 million lawsuit against Providence Health & Services and Oregon Anesthesiology Group, both located in the Portland area, after contracting the life-threatening hepatitis C virus, according to a Jan. 10 report from Oregon Live.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, released a new warning at the beginning of January tying several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer, to alcohol consumption. 

There are 6,300 Medicare-certified ASCs in the U.S., a 3.5% increase over December 2022, according to CMS data.

Many ASCs across the U.S. are seeing patient copays increase for outpatient surgery, and collecting upfront from patients is tough. But it's necessary to keep the ASC running smoothly.

Beginning Jan. 7, wildfires have been sweeping parts of California, including the Palisades, Pasadena, the San Fernando Valley and the Hollywood Hills. 

In November 2024, CMS finalized a 94-cent (2.83%) conversion factor decrease from 2024. The physician fee schedule conversion factor for 2025 is $32.35, down from $33.29 in 2024. 

Nurse practitioners out-earned their registered nurse and physician assistant counterparts when it came to base pay in 2024, according to annual compensation reports from Medscape. 

Private equity has an ever-tightening grip in healthcare, across nearly every physician specialty, including anesthesia. 

Here are 10 new developments, breakthroughs, studies and more from the ophthalmology industry that Becker's reported on in 2024:

Surgeon's Point Surgery Center in Cedar Park, Texas, is the first ASC in the world to utilize Moon Surgical's Maestro System, a digital surgical assistant.

The U.S. 2nd Court of Appeals recently revisited a whistleblower lawsuit against Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, creating a new development in the enforcement of the Anti-Kickback Statute, Policy & Medicine reported Jan. 8. 

Laurel, Va.-based Virginia Care Partners, an affiliate of HCA Virginia in Richmond, has established a partnership with Pearl Health, a technology platform geared specifically toward independent physician practices, IT News Online reported Jan. 8. 

Here are the most recent updates on five ASC giants as 2025 begins: 

Alexander Otellin, MD, a former physician in Charleston, W.Va., was sentenced to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for the unlawful distribution of oxycodone.

A Jan. 7 bipartisan Senate report titled "Profits Over Patients: The Harmful Effects of Private Equity on the U.S. Health Care System" heavily scrutinized private equity involvement in healthcare, particularly in underserved and rural communities. 

From prior authorization burdens to the advent of new AI, three gastroenterology specialists spoke with Becker's about the key factors that will make or break the field of GI in 2025. 

Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare will be acquired by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Foundation pending regulatory approval, WMTW reported Jan. 8.

A Texas physician had his medical license suspended after he was accused of being impaired during several procedures, The Fresno Bee reported Jan. 8.

Cardiac catheterization labs have been gaining steam as an outpatient venture, as more cardiovascular procedures migrate to the ASC setting. 

The Lina Khan-led Federal Trade Commission is making one final attempt to secure a ban on worker noncompete agreements just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, which is expected to usher in new FTC leadership.