Dallas-based United Surgical Partners International, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners and Deerfield, Ill.-based SCA Health are three of the biggest ASC chains in the country.
Here are 32 things the companies did this year that ASC leaders need to know:
USPI:
1. USPI executives revealed the company is behind on its year-long growth plan in an Oct. 20 third quarter earnings call from Tenet Healthcare, USPI's parent company. USPI’s surgical case volumes were 100 percent of 2019 levels and flat compared to the same quarter last year, not reaching executives' high expectations for the company's growth.
2. In November 2021, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare said it would acquire SurgCenter Development and its more than 90 ASCs for approximately $1.2 billion. Here's how the deal is unfolding, as of the third quarter.
3. A federal judge ruled an antitrust suit, filed by former employees of Deerfield, Ill.-based SCA Health, can move forward against Tenet Healthcare, DaVita and UnitedHealth Group affiliates, Bloomberg Law reported Sept. 27. The ruling denied the defendants' motion to dismiss claims that, between 2010 and 2019, the defendants engaged in an antitrust conspiracy where employee compensation was reduced by agreeing not to solicit or hire each other's senior employees. The allegations involve SCA Health and United Surgical Partners International, which is now fully owned by Tenet.
4. In a July 22 earnings call, USPI said it aims to have 575 to 600 ASCs by the end of 2025. Tenet has been bolstering its ASC business to drive revenue.The company has spent more than $2.5 billion in capital investment to scale USPI since December 2020 and expects to see 12 percent growth in 2022 after acquiring interest in about 160 ASCs in less than two years.
5. Durango, Colo.-based Centura Mercy Hospital partnered with USPI and local physicians to build a new surgery center.
6. Tenet paid $406 million to acquire Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health's 5 percent equity position in USPI.
7. GI Alliance and USPI formed a joint venture for two Texas endoscopy centers. The partnership includes GAB Endoscopy Center in San Antonio and South Plains Endoscopy Center in Lubbock.
8. USPI now has more than 11,000 physicians, the most of any ASC chain. Last year, USPI's net operating revenue spiked 31 percent to $2.7 billion.
9. Citrus Heights (Calif.) Ambulatory Surgery Center, a USPI affiliate, opened in April.
10. USPI paid $1.1 billion to acquire Towson, Md.-based SurgCenter Development, adding 85 ASCs to its network.
11. USPI partnered with Owings Mills, Md.-based United Urology Group, adding 22 ASCs and more than 140 physicians to its network.
12. USPI and a group of physician investors are building a 52,000-square-foot medical office in Schertz, Texas, including a 12,000-square-foot ASC, expected to be completed by mid-2023.
13. Gary Richberg, MSN, RN, administrator of USPI, was reelected to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association's board as treasurer.
Surgery Partners:
1. Surgery Partners secured an $800 million equity offering.
2. Surgery Partners raked in $620.6 million during the third quarter.
3. Sixteen Surgery Partners' ASCs made Newsweek's "America's Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers," which ranks 510 of the more than 5,000 Medicare-certified ASCs in the country.
4. Surgery Partners' revenue jumped 13.3 percent over last year's second quarter to $615.4 million.
5. Surgery Partners and Charlotte, N.C.-based Novant Health submitted plans for a $328.7 million medical center in Asheville, N.C. The acute care hospital would be completed in January 2027.
6. Surgery Partners is joining with ValueHealth to expand access to high-value surgical care. The partnership aims to build ASCs and deploy ValueHealth's value-based surgical programs at Surgery Partners' current and in-development locations.
7. Surgery Partners' revenue jumped to $596.2 million in the first quarter of 2022, a 16.4 percent increase from the first quarter a year prior.
8. Surgery Partners affiliate St. Peters (Mo.) Surgery Center opened May 2.
9. Surgery Partners and Privia Health Group partnered to build a physician provider network throughout Montana. Privia Health's introduction into the Montana market is through a wholly owned subsidiary of Surgery Partners, Great Falls Clinic.
10. David Doherty, senior vice president of corporate finance and controller at Surgery Partners, became CFO on Feb. 1.
SCA Health:
1. In March, Optum, SCA Health's parent company, acquired home healthcare business LHC Group for $5.4 billion. Lafayette, La.-based LHC Group offers in-home health and hospice care from 964 locations in 37 states.
2. Optum reportedly purchased Jacksonville Beach, Fla.-based Refresh Mental Health from private equity firm Kelso & Co. Refresh Mental Health has a network of more than 300 outpatient sites in 37 states with more than 1,500 employees.
3. In March 2021, Optum agreed to acquire Newton, Mass.-based Atrius Health, which employs 645 physicians and primary care providers, for $236 million. Although the acquisition came under scrutiny by the Massachusetts attorney general, the deal was confirmed in 2022.
4. In April, Optum acquired Houston-based Kelsey-Seybold for around $2 billion. Kelsey-Seybold is a multispecialty physician group with cancer and women's health centers, two ASCs and a sleep center.
5. In May, Surgical Care Affiliates rebranded to SCA Health, with intentions to expand beyond ASC management into specialty care. The company also updated its logo to symbolize growth momentum and added a tagline: "The future of specialty care."
6. Also in May, Marie Edler, chief strategy officer at SCA Health, was elected as a board member of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.
7. Optum, SCA Health's parent company, is looking to value-based care. In June, Optum Ventures, CVS Ventures, Anthem and HLM Venture Partners announced they are investing in CareBridge, a value-based healthcare company for patients receiving home and community-based services.
8. In July, Optum acquired Healthcare Associates of Texas, a Dallas-based physician practice management company, for $300 million. Healthcare Associates of Texas offers family medicine, physical therapy, sleep medicine, a wellness clinic, pharmacy, and lab and imaging services.
9. Optum's total revenues in the first nine months of 2022 are $134.9 billion, an increase of 17.8 percent year over year, reaching $46.6 billion, according to financial results released Oct. 14 by parent company UnitedHealth Group.