Some leaders believe payers will be forced to increase ASC reimbursements as they become more lucrative amid healthcare's shift to value-based care.
Leslie Jebson, regional administrator at Prisma Health in Greenville, S.C., joined Becker's to discuss how value-based care will affect the ASC industry.
Editor's note: This response was edited lightly for clarity and brevity.
Question: What are the obstacles for ASCs as healthcare transitions to value-based care.
Leslie Jebson: There are some inflationary challenges, labor shortages and equipment issues — labor and supplies are outpacing the level of reimbursements — and that's creating significant cost pressures that are not sustainable. There's gonna have to be a correction by the payers.
The largest growing sector is ASCs. This is the area of growth because it is a lower cost of care that's rendered in these places versus a hospital, and so the payers need to continue to support this migration but do it in a fair and responsible fashion. And they've got to be realistic about it. They can't push everything to the outpatient arena and continue to squeeze costs. There's not much squeezing left to be done.