Cardiology is the fastest-growing ASC specialty. According to Avanza's 2022 "Key ASC Benchmarks and Industry Figures" report, cardiology procedures saw the highest estimated Medicare payment increases in 2021.
This is in large part due to the migration of cardiac procedures to ASCs, which continues to accelerate as technology within the specialty advances.
"I believe cardiovascular procedures will be amongst the most common procedures to migrate from the hospital to the ASC setting," Bruce Feldman, the administrator of Eastern Orange Ambulatory Surgery Center in Cornwall, N.J. told Becker's. "These will include such procedures as ICDs, pacemakers, peripheral vascular stenting, coronary ablations, [percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty] and [transcatheter aortic valve replacement]."
Here are five other notes on cardiology's outpatient migration in 2025:
1. Becker's reported on 26 cardiology-focused ASCs opened or announced in 2024.
2. Cardiac catheterization labs have also been gaining momentum as an outpatient venture. Richmond-based Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists recently opened the state's first freestanding, Medicare-certified outpatient cardiac catheterization lab. In 2024, Marriottsville, Md.-based Bon Secours and Compass Surgical Partners also partnered to build a cardiovascular surgery center in Short Pump, Va., and received certificate-of-need approval in the same cycle as VCS.
3. Some payers have also gotten on board. Aetna dropped its policy to not cover cardiac PET/CT scans in July 2024, and CMS added several cardiac procedures to the ASC covered procedure list, including diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures, peripheral vascular interventions, and placement of pacemakers and defibrillators.
4. Private equity players have also taken note of cardiology's growth trajectory. Since 2014, 342 cardiology clinics have been acquired by PE firms. There are also a number of active cardiology-specific PE firms.
5. Most cardiovascular procedures are less expensive in ASCs than in the hospital outpatient department. For example, catheter placement in-coronary artery for coronary angiography — one of the most common procedures — costs $382 at an ASC, versus $919 at an HOPD.