Becker's ASC Review

26 JOINT VENTURES Physician ownership changed in 2020: 7 insights By Angie Stewart S even observations and predictions related to physician practice owner- ship in 2020: 1. Hospitals and health systems remain active acquirers of physician practices, ac- cording to VMG Health's 2020 "Healthcare M&A Report." From 2012-18, the number of hospital-owned practices increased at an average annual growth rate of about 12.3 percent. The number of hospital- employed physicians rose at an average annual growth rate of about 17.5 percent in the same period. 2. Earlier this year, Avanza Healthcare Strate- gies predicted that more ASCs owned by hospitals or health systems will be structured as physician-hospital joint ventures. As the trend toward joint ventures continues, hos- pital and health system leaders cite owner- ship by employed physicians and engaging outside managers as common issues, Avanza President and CEO Joan Dentler said in an email newsletter. 3. e number of physician-owned practices considering a sale has tripled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to informa- tion gathered by Physicians First. 4. Physicians who retire from small practices increasingly aren't replaced, as physicians new to medicine opt for hospital employment instead, according to research published Jan. 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. 5. Changes could be coming for physician- owned hospitals. On Aug. 4, CMS proposed removing some provisions in the expansion exception process for physician-owned hos- pitals that serve high numbers of Medicaid inpatients in the 2021 Outpatient Prospec- tive Payment System proposed rule. Earlier in the pandemic, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would let physician-owned hospitals expand their number of beds and surgical rooms without limitations during the emergency period. 6. In early September, Global Healthcare Ad- visors, a boutique investment bank focused on healthcare mergers and acquisitions, provided a snapshot of ownership distribu- tion in the ASC market: • Physician owner: 64 percent • Physician-hospital owner: 24 percent • Corporate owner: 4 percent • Physician-corporate owner: 4 percent • Hospital owner: 3 percent • Physician-hospital-corporate owner: 1 percent 7. e physician networking site Doxim- ity surveyed 90,000 licensed, full-time U.S. physicians, finding that 49.1 percent were employed by either a hospital or a physician- owned group in 2018. Just over 31 percent reported being independent providers. n Minnesota ASC breaks ground on facility expansion By Carly Behm S t. Cloud (Minn.) Surgical Center broke ground on an $11 million facility expansion, according to an Oct. 13 report from radio station KNSI. The project will add a 7,500-square-foot expansion to the facil- ity, to accomodate an uptick in demand for orthopedic and spine surgery, the report said. Although the initial stages were pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion is expected to be done by September 2021. St. Cloud Surgical Center CEO Darci Nagorski told KNSI that she hopes the expansion will meet the growing demand for outpa- tient surgeries. "Those types of cases require more equipment in the room, more types of instrumentation and implants, more space to process that stuff," Ms. Nagorski said in the report. "In order to service those patients with our highest population growth com- ing from those [orthopedic] cases, we needed to make some changes, because our space was just so limited." n ASC plans $12.8M relocation, build-out in Nashville — 3 details By Angie Stewart N ashville, Tenn.-based Specialty Surgery Center expects to invest more than $12.8 million into a relocation and facility build- out, according to Intelligence360 News. What you should know: 1. On or about Aug. 1, 2021, the ASC expects to occupy a space in Nashville where it will build out 92,806 square feet. 2. Specialty Surgery Center has been serving the Nashville community since 1992. Its current facility is situated between St. Thomas Midtown Hospital and Centennial Medical Center. 3. Specialty Surgery Center offers anesthesia, den- tistry, ophthalmology, oral and maxillofacial and plastic surgery services. n

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