United Surgical Partners International, the ASC arm of Nashville, Tenn.-based Tenet Healthcare, is sharpening its strategic focus on orthopedic-driven centers, executives said during Tenet’s April 29 earnings call.
Here are six key points to know:
1. USPI’s growth strategy is bolstered by a robust development pipeline that includes both acquisitions and syndication-structured new centers. CEO Saum Sutaria, MD, noted that many of these emerging centers are being intentionally designed with the capacity to expand into high-growth specialties, most notably orthopedics.
2. As part of a broader industry trend, USPI is moving away from lower-acuity, high-volume procedures in its centers to make room for more complex, high-revenue cases. Dr. Sutaria said last year that this shift enables ASCs to better accommodate procedures like orthopedics, cardiology and spine surgeries that were traditionally performed in hospital settings.
3. USPI is seeing a boost in revenue-per-case, driven by three main factors: strategic payer contracting, a growing proportion of higher-acuity procedures and more deliberate case mix management.
4. Total joint replacements continue to be a major focus. Dr. Sutaria described the continued outpatient migration of these procedures as an “ongoing march forward.” While the growth rate of joint replacements is naturally leveling off as the platform matures, the volume remains strong and represents a long-term growth lever.
5. In a recent move to strengthen its orthopedic presence, USPI partnered with San Diego-based Synergy Orthopedics to build what is expected to be the largest dedicated musculoskeletal ASC in the San Diego region.
6. Last year, Dr. Sutaria reinforced his bullish outlook on orthopedics, calling it the “number one growth vector” in the ASC space for the next five to 10 years. He cited two major tailwinds: the continued migration of hospital-based cases to freestanding centers and the overall expansion of the patient base choosing outpatient orthopedic care. He said that this dual dynamic of migration and market growth will position orthopedics as the dominant service line opportunity in the ASC space moving forward.
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