Here are two wins and two losses that ASCs are experiencing:
Wins
ASC leadership pay grows
According to the 2023 OR Manager survey, ASC leaders saw an increase in compensation in 2023, with 68% of respondents reporting a total annual compensation of $120,000 or more, up from 50% in 2022.
Less than 14% of respondents reported earning less than $100,000.
More procedures approved for ASCs
CMS added 11 nondental procedures to the ASC-covered list that were not included in the proposed rule.
"We thank CMS for heeding our request to move additional surgical procedures — including total shoulder arthroplasty — onto the ASC payable list," Ambulatory Surgery Center Association CEO Bill Prentice said in a Nov. 2 news release. "Doing so benefits both Medicare beneficiaries, who now have a lower cost choice for the care they need, and the Medicare program itself, which will save millions of dollars as volume moves to the high-quality surgery center site of service."
Losses
Growing labor costs
The percentage of healthcare providers with an internal minimum wage of more than $15 per hour went from 15.6% to 29.1% from 2022 to 2023, according to a survey from consulting firm SullivanCotter.
According to a 2022 report from VMG Health, the average percentage of operating revenue ASCs spent on paying employees was 21.3%. The biggest spenders paid 29% of their earnings to compensate staff.
Anesthesia provider shortages
Nearly 30% of anesthesiologists are predicted to leave the practice by 2033, according to a whitepaper from Medicus Healthcare Solutions.
"Today's shortage of anesthesia providers has been compounding for years and has turned into an incredible challenge for all," Andrew Lovewell, CEO of Columbia (Mo.) Orthopaedic Group, told Becker's. "Not only is it difficult to find anesthesia coverage, finding coverage that understands and embraces the priorities and workflow of an ASC is seemingly impossible."