Cardiology has been a growing outpatient specialty for the last several years, a shift that has also driven recent mergers and acquisitions in the ASC space.
Two leaders in outpatient cardiology joined Becker’s to discuss what they believe will shape the specialty’s growth over the next several years.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length:
Question: How do you predict that outpatient cardiology will change and grow over the next five years?
Paula Reisdorfer. Senior Director of Cardiovascular Services at Surgery Partners (Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas): Although the shift of cardiology procedures to the outpatient space may have been slower than predicted five to 10 years ago, it has become more widely accepted in most states. Honestly, physicians who work in states where cardiology is still prohibited in ASCs are in an unfortunate position, as they see colleagues across the country safely providing care for patients in the ambulatory setting. It’s encouraging however that states such as Ohio and New York are now considering the approval of cardiology procedures in ASCs. Providing this lower-cost site of service while increasing the satisfaction of patients and physicians is of benefit to everyone. Also within the next five years, certainly we should see the approval of EP ablations in the outpatient environment by CMS. Implementing ablations safely in ASCs will take diligent planning of care pathways with careful patient selection, but I am optimistic this is achievable.
Amit Singh, MD. Cardiologist at Cayuga Health (Ithaca, N.Y.): [The] transition of the bulk of cardiac care to outpatient setting [and] imaging with AI boost.
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