Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1344229
37 OUTPATIENT SURGERY Biden administration cancels Trump administration plan for opioid treatment drug By Eric Oliver P resident Joe Biden's administration rolled back a plan by former President Donald Trump's administration to allow physicians to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid-use disorder, e Washington Post reported Jan. 27. What you should know: 1. HHS announced a guideline focused around buprenorphine Jan. 14, the White House said in a message obtained by the Post. "Unfortunate- ly, the announcement was made prematurely. erefore, the guidelines previously announced cannot be issued at this time," the message read. 2. e Trump administration's plan was heavily supported by lawmakers and physician groups. However, the plan had legal and operational is- sues and was not cleared by the White House budget office. "e Biden-Harris administration absolutely supports broader access to medication-based treatment for opioid-use disorder and is work- ing to find ways to li burdensome restrictions on medications for opioid-use disorder treat- ment," a spokesperson for the White House's drug policy office told the Post. 3. e plan would have made some physicians exempt from a waiver that required physicians to undergo a daylong training before they could prescribe buprenorphine by exempting those physicians with a Drug Enforcement Adminis- tration narcotics-prescribing license, according to the Post. 4. Legislators are introducing policies in the House and Senate to eliminate the waiver. n 10 areas with highest physician pay growth — Multispecialty groups are No. 1 By Laura Dyrda A verage annual pay grew the most for physicians in multispecialty group practices last year, according to Doximity's 2020 Physician Compensation Report. The networking site for medical professionals surveyed about 44,000 full- time U.S. physicians on compensation growth from 2019 to 2020 and found: 1. Multispecialty groups: 4.1 percent growth to hit $408,901 2. Health maintenance organizations: 3.9 percent growth to hit $370,235 3. Industry or pharmaceutical: 3.8 percent growth to hit $387,601 4. Health system: 2.7 percent growth to hit $381,984 5. Single-specialty group: 2.3 percent growth to hit $425,341 6. Urgent care center: 2.1 percent growth to hit $244,464 7. Solo practice: 1.6 percent growth to hit $396,913 8. Academic: 1.2 percent growth to hit $337,298 9. Hospital: 1.1 percent growth to hit $380,003 10. Government: 0.6 percent growth to hit $252,809 n Independent Connecticut ASCs sell majority stakes to SCA By Eric Oliver S tamford-based Specialty Surgery Center of Connecticut and Bloom- field (Conn.) Ambulatory Surgery Center both sold majority ownership stakes to Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affiliates, Merritt Healthcare Advisors announced Feb. 9. The multispecialty centers focus on orthopedics, podiatry, ENT, gastroenter- ology, general surgery, pain management, plastic surgery and urology. Merritt Healthcare Holdings held stakes in both facilities. Matt Searles, managing partner at Merritt Healthcare Advisors, said: "SCA has an established presence in Connecticut and is an ideal partner for [the centers]. After an exhaustive diligence and selection process, we believe the future is bright for these facilities with SCA as a partner." SCA operates more than 230 surgical facilities. n