ASCs are continuing to grow in number nationwide, but despite 80% of surgeries being performed in the outpatient setting, 10 states still have fewer than one ASC for every 100,000 residents. 

While California has the most ASCs of any state according to the most recent data from the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, Maryland has the most ASCs per capita. Meanwhile, Vermont has the fewest in both number and per capita. 

The number of ASCs nationwide is growing rapidly headed into 2024, with over 11,000 Medicare- and non-Medicare-certified facilities across the country. 

Here are three states that have taken action to ban noncompetes that Becker's has reported on since Oct. 5:

Nashville-based SurgNet, a new-to-market ASC management and development company, is struggling to grow in its home state due to complicated certificate of need laws, according to a Nov. 3 report from the Nashville Business Journal. 

AmSurg has officially emerged under new ownership as a separate and independent entity from Envision Healthcare, its former parent company, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The median compensation earned by physicians in the third quarter was $358,753, up $7,253 compared to the same period last year, according to data from Kaufman Hall.

Here are six states experiencing ASC closures in 2023: 

Peripheral Vascular Associates, a 27-provider group, has notified state officials of its plan to lay off workers and close multiple offices.

Baton Rouge, La.-based physician Melissa Barrett, MD, was found guilty of tax evasion. 

Management company Medical Facilities Corp. has divested from five of its six non-core ASCs in the last year, with plans to continue divesting non-core assets and surgical hospital assets over time, according to a third quarter update from investment adviser Greystone Capital, published on Nov. 1. 

Washington D.C. has more physicians per capita than any state, according to the latest Association of American Medical Colleges State Physician Workforce Data Report, released last year. 

Physician networking website Doximity is taking steps to protect its millions of members from a spike in harassment and violence from patients by launching a free service that scrubs provider's personal contact information from the internet, according to a Nov. 1 report from CNBC.

While the jury is still out on the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, that has not stopped some physicians from taking advantage of its uses for tasks including recordkeeping, patient communications and clinical research, according to Medscape's 2023 "Physicians and AI Report," published Oct. 30. 

Around 65% of U.S. physicians are at least somewhat concerned about artificial intelligence driving patient diagnostic and treatment decisions, according to Medscape's 2023 "Physicians and AI Report," published Oct. 30. 

Artificial intelligence is shaping every industry in the world, and the healthcare industry is no exception. From changing colonoscopy polyp detection to providing relief for practice administrators, this new era of AI is making an impact on ASCs. 

Here are four states that have updated or proposed updates to their certificate-of-need laws in 2023:

Employers are budgeting smaller raises and salary increases on average in 2024, according to early predictions from economists. Online job aggregators including ZipRecruiter, Indeed and Glassdoor are also forecasting a slowdown in posted wage growth, according to an Oct. 30 report from CNBC.

Tampa, Fla.-based pain management physician Edward Lubin, MD, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations he submitted medically unnecessary claims for fentanyl prescriptions in exchange for kickback payments. 

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been used in orthopedic surgery for almost a decade to remotely track tagged devices and instruments via cloud-based software that can monitor location, models and configurations, expiration dates and other variables, with potentially significant advantages to patients and institutional operations.