Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1428581
23 JOINT VENTURES HCA partners with 30 physicians to acquire Alaska ASC By Marcus Robertson HCA Healthcare acquired Alaska's newest ASC, the Anchorage-based Alaska Surgery Center, the company said in an Oct. 6 news release. The transaction, which Nashville, Tenn.- based HCA said closed May 1, marks the company'sthird ASC in Alaska. The deal coin- cided with the surgery center's move to a new facility in Anchorage. The center is a multispecialty clinic with ser- vices in otorhinolaryngology, general surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, oral and maxil- lofacial surgery, orthopedics, pain manage- ment, plastic surgery, podiatry and urology services. n HCA acquires its 10th ASC in Utah By Marcus Robertson H CA Healthcare, in Nashville, Tenn., partnered with 50 physicians to acquire Provo-based Central Utah Surgical Center, the company said Oct. 6 in a news release. Central Utah Surgical Center is a 21,000-square-foot multispecialty facility fea- turing six advanced operating rooms and two gastrointestinal procedure rooms. The center offers services including gastroen- terology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, otorhi- nolaryngology, general surgery, urology, pain management, podiatry, plastic surgery, dental and gynecology procedures. The deal closed July 1, adding to HCA's portfolio of 145 surgery centers nationwide. Details of the acquisition were not disclosed. n 8 payers ranked by customer satisfaction By Nick Moran T he American Customer Satisfaction Index released its annual Insur- ance and Health Care Study on Oct. 19, which gauges payer customer experiences. e index uses a 100-point scale for its rankings. is year's rankings also included Centene, which was not measured in 2020. Here are how eight payers ranked: 1. Blue Cross and Blue Shield: 75 (up 4 percent) 2. Kaiser Permanente: 75 (up 3 percent) 3. Humana: 74 (down 1 percent) 4. UnitedHealth: 74 (up 3 percent) 5. Aetna: 73 (up 3 percent) 6. Other insurers: 73 (no change) 7. Centene: 72 (not measured in 2020) 8. Cigna: 68 (down 4 percent) n Indiana physicians opening ASC with fixed, upfront prices By Patsy Newitt T wo physicians and a local business owner are opening an ASC offering fixed pricing in Zionsville, Ind., according to a recent Carmel Monthly Magazine report. e new WellBridge Surgical will post the prices, which owners say are 30 percent to 60 percent lower than market averages, up front on the company's website. e procedure price will include facility charge, surgeon fee and anesthesiologist fee. Anesthesiologists Ron Piniecki, MD, and Eric Inman, MD, and business owner Jeff Williams, said they decided on the model aer noting healthcare costs for small businesses increased yearly while benefits decreased. "Over the past several decades, by unnecessarily complicating healthcare, many intermediaries intentionally created our unsustainable, overpriced system that runs on smoke and mirrors," Dr. Inman told Carmel Monthly Magazine. "We circumvent these middlemen, providing consumers with a competitive alternative to purchase surgical services, just like other products or services." WellBridge Surgical will offer general surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, oto- laryngology, urology, podiatry and gastroenterology procedures. n