Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1491055
10 ASC MANAGEMENT 4. In April, Optum acquired Houston- based Kelsey-Seybold for around $2 billion. Kelsey-Seybold is a multispecialty physician group with cancer and women's health centers, two ASCs and a sleep center. 5. In May, Surgical Care Affiliates rebranded to SCA Health, with intentions to expand beyond ASC management into specialty care. e company also updated its logo to symbolize growth momentum and added a tagline: "e future of specialty care." 6. Also in May, Marie Edler, chief strategy officer at SCA Health, was elected as a board member of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. 7. Optum, SCA Health's parent company, is looking to value-based care. In June, Optum Ventures, CVS Ventures, Anthem and HLM Venture Partners announced they are investing in CareBridge, a value-based healthcare company for patients receiving home and community-based services. 8. In July, Optum acquired Healthcare Associates of Texas, a Dallas-based physician practice management company, for $300 million. Healthcare Associates of Texas offers family medicine, physical therapy, sleep medicine, a wellness clinic, pharmacy, and lab and imaging services. 9. Optum's total revenues in the first nine months of 2022 are $134.9 billion, an increase of 17.8 percent year over year, reaching $46.6 billion, according to financial results released Oct. 14 by parent company UnitedHealth Group. n Stark Law changes: Physician compensation arrangements to keep an eye on By Patsy Newitt H ospitals and health systems need to update their physician compensation plans after CMS' recent changes to the Stark Law, according to an article in JDSupra from the law firm Foley and Lardner. These arrangements should be "carefully reviewed" if the hospital seeks to meet the Stark Law employment or indirect compensation arrangement exceptions, according to the Sept. 7 report. Three things to note: 1. Physician compensation plans where productivity is above the 75th percentile could trigger review. These plans should ensure that compensation is consistent with the physician's personal productivity, instead of assuming anything below the 75th percentile will be fair market value. 2. Compensation should also be consistent with the services performed by the practitioner. If a physician is compensated based on their advanced practice providers' work relative value units, for example, hospitals should ensure that compensation is explicitly for the services performed by the physician, such as supervision. 3. Indirect compensation agreements should be reviewed, because certain compensation agreements that consider APP work relative value units as physician compensation might not meet commercial reasonableness and fair market value tests. n The major benefits of physician ASC ownership By Patsy Newitt C ontrol and convenience are two major benefits to physician ownership of ASCs, according to the most recent data from Advancing Surgical Care. Here are the two benefits to physician ownership, according to the report. 1. Control Physician ownership allows for control over both the clinical environment and the quality of care to patients. Physicians can focus on a small number of procedures, intensify control processes and allow for the patients to bring concerns directly to the physician operator. Unlike hospital settings, where administrators often lack knowledge about individualized patients, physician operators have direct knowledge about each case. 2. Convenience Physician ownership can also reduce patient wait times and allow for specialization, according to the report. ASCs serve fewer patients than hospitals and are highly specialized, so they have more fluidity than hospitals to exercise control over scheduling and strategies. n