At the recent Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions’ 2025 Scientific Sessions in Washington, interventional cardiologists discussed the role of ASCs in the future of cardiovascular care, Medpage Today reported May 5.
Here are five takeaways from the report:
1. One study presented at the conference, which looked at case volumes of outpatient coronary revascularization, found that ASCs disproportionately reached underserved populations in certain states.
2. ASCs may also play an important role in scaling up new technologies for cardiovascular procedures. The cardiologists discussed the difficulties in introducing transcatheter aortic valve replacement in rural hospitals that may face significant financial barriers to this kind of technology. ASCs and office-based labs, which are modeled around cost-saving efficiency, may present better opportunities for scaling up the use of TAVR.
3. The rise of freestanding cardiac catheterization labs is also changing the landscape of outpatient cardiac procedures, according to the report, as these facilities can manage lower technical fees.
4. “Medicare expansion of interventional cardiovascular procedures to the outpatient schedule and to ASCs is changing the sites of care and attracting hospital systems and private equity. Both strategy and tactics are required to leverage this for providers and patients,” Joaquin Cigarroa, MD, of the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, said at the conference.
5. “Hospitals will rapidly move into the ASC market to compete with private equity and physician-owned centers,” he added. “Whether individual states like it or not, CMS is behind this, and insurers are behind it. And it is estimated that within five years, 35% of outpatient procedures that include coronary procedures will occur in [office-based labs] and ASCs.”
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