Avanza Healthcare Strategies is pleased to share the results of the 5th Avanza Intelligence Hospital Leadership ASC Survey. We want to thank all those who participated, with a special thank you to HealthLeaders Media for leading the survey efforts. The results for 2023 continue to illustrate the fluidity of the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) industry and how a maturing market is impacting execution strategies.
Here are some notable highlights from this year’s survey.
ASC investments are accelerating and becoming central to the overall health system strategy
More than 7 out of 10 hospitals and health systems intend to continue investing in and affiliating with ASCs. The trend is up 8% since 2019 and is attributable to many factors, including the ongoing shift of non-urgent surgical procedures into the outpatient setting, consumer demand, the need to decrease costs and growing competition from physicians for surgical cases.
Ownership dynamics and equity incentives remain fluid
The 2023 survey indicates that more hospitals prefer to have ownership stakes greater than 50%. In fact, 29% of respondents said their hospital and health system owned 100% of their ASCs. If this trend continues, it will impact the overall market in many ways, including physician relations, management strategies and overall alignment with broader outpatient strategies.
Maturing market continues to impact the perspectives on external partnerships
As the ASC market evolves, there will inevitably be shifts in how centers are developed, financed and managed. For example, this year’s survey indicated that 12% of the respondents currently engage a management organization, which is down from 23% in 2019. This downward trend is correlated to the maturing ASC management market. More often, hospitals are managing their ASCs through internal teams. Management organizations are still very relevant, and many have adapted their market approach and business models to remain valuable partners for hospitals and health systems.
