Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1480884
10 ASC MANAGEMENT State Physicians Per 100k Population Avg Physician Pay Herfindahl-Hirschman Index Becker's Composite 34. West Virginia 29.52 $222,760 5,295 -0.28 35. Maryland 9.01 $206,770 5,566 -0.50 36. Kansas 17.60 $180,960 5,172 -0.59 37. Connecticut 16.87 $210,350 6,083 -0.77 38. Michigan 3.88 $178,230 3,906 -0.85 39. South Carolina 18.49 $237,110 9,463 -1.08 40. Louisiana 20.78 $221,420 9,681 -1.19 41. Rhode Island 46.65 $206,670 5,119 -1.30 42. Mississippi 16.74 $184,170 4,958 -1.36 43. Oklahoma 22.64 $205,440 8,964 -1.59 44. North Dakota 88.12 $212,990 6,865 -1.80 45. Alabama 18.59 $213,410 9,341 -1.98 46. North Carolina 9.10 $198,750 9,505 -2.38 47. Wyoming 166.07 $263,540 9,580 -2.87 48. Alaska 136.31 $266,200 9,997 -3.16 49. District of Columbia 105.78 $212,890 7,294 -3.43 50. Delaware 100.53 $219,940 9,952 -4.07 51. Vermont 155.50 $226,390 10,000 -5.24 Note: e Herfindahl-Hirschman Index is a measure of market competitiveness, here applied to the individual insurance market. "Average physician pay" is taken from Bureau of Labor Statistics data that excludes pediatricians. Methodology To convert each dataset into comparable numbers, Becker's calculated the standard deviation and average of each, which were both used to determine the Z-scores for every value. e Z-score is a measure of how far a point of data is from its parent dataset's average. For "Average physician pay," higher numbers are clearly better, but for "Physicians per 100K population" and "Herfindahl-Hirschman Index," golf rules apply: the lowest score wins. In calculating the Becker's Composite, the signs were reversed on the Z-score categories playing by golf rules, which were then summed with the physician pay Z-score and a value reflecting the restrictiveness of state regulations. n ASC owners can expect to face higher energy bills this winter By Claire Wallace T he U.S. Treasury Secretary has warned Americans that another price spike for gasoline is coming this winter, which could cause heating bill costs to rise for homes and businesses, according to a Sept. 16 report from USA Today. "This winter, the European Union will cease, for the most part, buying Russian oil, and in addition, they will ban the provision of services that enable Russia to ship oil by tanker," secretary Janet Yellen said in the interview. "It is possible that could cause a spike in oil prices." Additionally, Europe's energy crisis is expected to hit an all-time high during the colder months, and several large oil-producing countries may have to cut production. All of these factors will cause prices for both gas and oil to rise. Most residential and commercial buildings in the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions use oil in heating systems. Half of U.S. homes and businesses are heated with natural gas and natural gas prices have hit a 14-year price high because of Europe's energy crisis. The average cost of home heating is expected to rise 17.2 percent this winter, according to the report. This will bring the average cost of heating to $1,202. The cost of yearly utility bills is expected to reach $3,803 this year, as air conditioning prices rose from $450 to $600 over the summer. n