Ambulatory Surgical Center Billing Blog Posts

Over the past several years, physician groups and hospitals in various markets have started participating in accountable care organizations (ACO). Some ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have already joined ACOs, while others try to determine if they should get involved or go in another direction.

Before you can determine if being a part of an ACO is right for you, it’s important to fully understand ACOs, some of the potential hurdles for contracting with them, and some insider tips on surviving in an ACO market, whether you decide to join one or not.

According to BeckersASC.com, Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) are in a position to be extremely successful in the coming years. Trends like the ability to expand offered procedures, increasing reimbursement for ASCs, growing consumer demand, and migrating care delivery are all weighing in favor of ASCs. However, despite being poised for even great success, it’s always critical to make sure you have your eye on your revenue cycle management to keep your ASC in the green. 

Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) are in for more challenges in the coming months as well as a new windfall from CMS, all of which will serve to create more challenges (and headaches for billing staff) in 2019 and beyond.  

With the emphasis by CMS to implement site-neutral policies to incentivize lower-cost settings, three major outcomes can be predicted, according to Linda R. O’Neill, the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) Vice President of Government Affairs.

• These resulting lower costs are making ASCs much more attractive to potential buyers, such as hospitals looking for mergers and acquisitions in facilities favored by the latest CMS ASC rulings.
• Nearly a fifth of the healthcare executives who responded to HIDA’s survey reported that they are interested in acquiring surgical centers.
• On the other hand, over 70 percent of ASC decision makers don’t anticipate any mergers or acquisitions within the next two years.

Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) are some of the fastest-growing medical services today. Unlike physician- surgeon or hospital billing, there are some things that you as well as your billing department need to know before filing a claim for services rendered through an ASC. Medicare often has different guidelines than some payers, for one thing, and the payers themselves often differ regarding medical necessity, approved procedures, or other filing requirements.