Author's posts
Ascension in talks to acquire AmSurg in $3.9B deal
St. Louis-based Ascension, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems, is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Nashville-based ASC chain AmSurg in a deal valued at approximately $3.9 billion, according to Bloomberg. AmSurg, which operates more than 250 ASCs across 34 states with more than 2,000 physicians, emerged as a standalone entity after separating […]
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Elevance lawsuit alleges physician groups, billing company gamed IDR process
Elevance Health, parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, has filed a lawsuit against billing company HaloMD and two physician groups accusing them of exploiting the federal arbitration system established under the No Surprises Act, according to court documents accessed by Becker’s. Filed May 27, the lawsuit accuses Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia […]
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PA pay by specialty
Emergency medicine has the highest physician associate pay with a median annual compensation of $146,000, well above the national median of $134,000, according to the 2025 American Academy of Physician Associates Salary Survey. Data for the report draws from a survey of 9,789 non-retired PAs in the U.S. between Jan. 14 and Feb. 28, 2025. […]
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Where physicians stay independent: A specialty breakdown
The American Medical Association’s newly released Physician Practice Benchmark Report, published May 29, sheds light on the shifting landscape of physician employment. While overall private practice ownership continues to decline, significant variation persists across specialties. Here’s the percentage of physicians in private practice by specialty:
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How physician autonomy made this ASC company ‘shining stars’ of the marketplace
Physician autonomy is top of mind for many ASC leaders — especially as around 108,700 physicians left private practice for employment between 2019 and 2021, according to a report from Avalere. While many physicians have moved toward employed models, not all are satisfied with that transition. Some are now pivoting back to private practice. A […]
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Missouri man pleads guilty to $174M fraud scheme involving physician kickbacks
A Kansas City, Mo.-based man has pleaded guilty to a Medicare fraud scheme involving false claims for cancer genetic testing and cardiovascular genetic testing, the Justice Department said in a May 29 news release. What happened? What’s next?
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Why ASC-anesthesia communication must be tighter than ever
Anesthesia’s success in hospitals can create dangerous assumptions in the ASC, and Jeff Tieder, CRNA, clinical assistant professor of the nurse anesthesia concentration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, joined Becker’s to discuss why boundaries matter. As procedures increasingly shift from hospitals to ASCs, Mr. Tieder shares how communication breakdowns between ASC leaders and […]
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Manufacturer sued after ASC anesthesiologist sentenced to 190 years for IV bag tampering
In November, Raynaldo Ortiz, MD, a Dallas-based anesthesiologist, was sentenced to 190 years in prison after being convicted of injecting nerve-blocking agents and other drugs into IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas. Now, the family of a patient who allegedly experienced a near-fatal cardiac event following a routine procedure at the […]
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5 physicians on the cutting edge of GI
Here are five of the many physicians on the cutting edge of gastroenterology. If you’d like to nominate a physician, please email pnewitt@beckershealthcare.com. Bryan Curtin, MD Dr. Curtin is the director of The Center for Neurogastroenterology and GI Motility at The Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center […]
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Inside this ASC’s strategy for ‘recession-proof’ OR scheduling
From declining reimbursements to rising costs, many ASCs are facing persistent economic pressures, requiring many centers to rework efficiency strategies. Andrew Weiss, administrator of Summit Surgical Center in Voorhees, N.J., joined Becker’s to discuss how compressing “OR schedules to avoid running half-empty rooms” is key to building operational resilience. At the heart of Summit Surgical’s […]
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