Here are five defining facets of cardiology in the ASC world:
1. Cardiology is the fastest growing ASC specialty, according to Avanza’s “2022 Key ASC Benchmarks and Industry Figures” report. According to the study, cardiology procedures saw the highest estimated Medicare payment increases in 2021.
2. While there is much anticipation surrounding cardiology’s expansion into the outpatient setting, some healthcare leaders are approaching the trend with caution.
“The opportunity in a wide variety of cardiovascular procedures is there,” Tenet Healthcare CEO Saum Sutaria, MD, said in a recent earnings call. “[But], I’ve always been clear that I think that that opportunity will proceed more slowly than people anticipate.” Dr. Sutaria highlighted several barriers to expanding cardiology in ASCs, including patient safety concerns, payer mix considerations and the significant capital investment required for specialized equipment.
“The upfront investment for physician partners and other things is much higher, with potentially lower-margin assets,” he said. “For economic and patient-safety reasons, I think this market will evolve, but I think it will evolve slower than people like to think.”
3. Some payers have begun to acknowledge cardiology’s outpatient migration. Aetna, for example, dropped its policy to not cover cardiac positron emission tomography/CT scans in July 2024.
4. 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 Raleigh, N.C.-based 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.
5. CON laws continue to present a significant barrier to the growth of cardiovascular ASCs, as many state laws were written prior to the development of the techniques and technologies that have made outpatient cardiology procedures possible. “One of the biggest challenges that we experienced when we were doing the CON was the fact that the state manual for the CON for a [cardiac catheterization] lab was written, in the ’80s or ’90s, many years ago, when outpatient cath labs were just not a thing,” Danielle Martin, an administrator and director of physician services at Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists told Becker’s.
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