Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1489874
30 ASC USPI's $1.2B SurgCenter deal: How one of the industry's biggest acquisitions is unfolding By Patsy Newitt I n November 2021, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, parent company of ASC chain United Surgical Partners International, said it would acquire SurgCenter Development and its more than 90 ASCs for approximately $1.2 billion. While the buy-out consolidation slowed in the third quarter, Tenet CEO Saum Sutaria, MD, said in an Oct. 20 third quarter earnings call that USPI's mergers and acquisitions pipeline is strong. e acquisition includes ownership interest in 92 ASCs and the formation of a five-year development agreement to provide continuity for SurgCenter Development's facilities and physician partners. "We have worked with the physicians in these centers, and there is further opportunity for some of the centers to mature before completing the buy-ups and we can deliver our added synergies," Dr. Sutaria said. "We will not force these unnaturally as the relationship with these physicians is foundational to our ongoing success." Dr. Sutaria added that these centers are performing well and their earnings are "continuing to ramp up." With the deal, USPI planned to acquire equity interests in the ASCs from physician owners for approximately $250 million. As of the end of the third quarter, the company is not yet at the originally anticipated equity ownership level, Dr. Sutaria said. "ere's anticipated additional synergies related to the [SurgCenter Development] transactions and it will continue to grow as we move through [2023] as well," Dan Cancelmi, Tenet's CFO, added in the call. n Physician pay is increasing in these specialties By Patsy Newitt P hysician pay is increasing in eight specialties, according to Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare's 2022 "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives." The report is based on 2,695 physician and advanced practitioner job search engagements conducted from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare are both physician staffing companies hired to look for physicians in these specialties for the last year. Here are the eight specialties for which average starting salaries jumped over the past year, ranked by percent increase • OB-GYN: 10.3 percent increase — from $291,000 to $321,000 • Anesthesiology: 9 percent increase — from $367,000 to $400,000 • Cardiology (Non-invasive): 8.5 percent increase — from $446,000 to $484,000 • Neurology: 7.3 percent increase — from $332,000 to $356,000 • Gastroenterology: 4.6 percent increase — $453,000 to $474,000 • Orthopedic surgery: 3.5 percent increase — from $546,000 to $565,000 • Urology: 2.6 percent increase — from $497,000 to $510,000 • Internal medicine: .4 percent increase — from $255,000 to $256,000 n Advanced practice registered nurse compensation: 7 facts By Claire Wallace C ertified registered nurse anesthetists had the highest pay of any advanced practice nurse in 2022 according to Medscape's 2022 APRN compensation report. Seven facts about advanced practice registered nurse compensation: 1. Base compensation for CRNAs is the highest among advanced practice nurses at $197,000 a year, while compensation for clinical nurse specialists is lowest at $107,000. 2. Sixty-six percent of CRNAs saw an increase in pay between 2020 and 2021, followed by 60 percent of nurse practitioners, 59 percent of clinical nurse specialists and 52 percent of nurse midwives. 3. Less than half of nurse practitioners (48 percent) feel fairly compensated. 4. Advanced practice nurses earn the most in hospital inpatient care settings. 5. Nurses with adult-gerontology acute care certifications earn the highest salary. 6. Advanced practice nurses working on the Pacific coast earn the highest salary of any region, at $148,000. 7. Nurse practitioners also make the most on the Pacific coast, at $140,000. n