The Cleveland Clinic is the latest to partner with a developer of ambulatory surgery centers to take minimally invasive procedures out of the hospital.
Health systems are taking a step toward the hospital of the future by outsourcing minor surgeries.
The latest to do so is the Cleveland Clinic, which announced a partnership this week with Tennessee-based Regent Surgical to build a number of ambulatory surgery centers across the country. These centers are designed to handle minimally invasive procedures, which require little to no hospital stays and shorter recovery times, much of which can be handled at home or in clinics.
As hospitals struggle with workforce shortages and look to reduce costs and their patient census, leadership is looking for alternatives to expensive and resource-intense hospital care, with the idea of saving the hospital for those who need acute care services and will spend several days there.
As a result, the ambulatory surgery market is growing. Fortune Business Insights reports the market size was valued at almost $44 billion in 2022 and projected to grow to more than $75 billion by 2030. There are currently more than 6,000 such centers in the U.S.
Arizona-based Banner Health joined forces with Select Medical in 2018, and now has a network of four private rehabilitation hospitals and outpatient physical therapy programs and services at dozens of Banner Physical Therapy Centers. Mark Garvin, the health system’s SVP of Partnership & Venture Development, says the partnership is part of Banner’s strategy to grow beyond its extensive hospital footprint and provide value-based care where it’s most convenient.
“These are people that wake up every single day and this is what they worry about,” he said in a recent HealthLeaders interview. “They’re experts. They know how to operate. They know how to develop. They know how to grow. It is their wheelhouse.”
Garvin says health systems and hospitals have the advantage over disruptors because of the name brand and the expertise in providing healthcare services.
“We can play in this space differently than the Amazons, differently than other retail organizations, simply because we’ve created these clinically integrated networks,” he says.
Cleveland Clinic, which is internationally known for outsourcing second opinions through The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic, a partnership with telehealth provider Amwell, is banking on new efficiencies with the Regent Medical deal.
“Ambulatory surgery centers provide an important setting for health systems to expand access to surgeries, and to be more efficient in the delivery of services,” Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic, MD, said in a press release. “Regent's capabilities in managing and operating ambulatory surgery centers will enable us to focus on continuing to provide the highest quality care for our patients and will enhance our ability to grow and offer that care to more patients.”
Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Faced with declining workforces and high costs, health systems are reducing the hospital footprint by outsourcing services that can be better handled elsewhere, leaving the hospital for the sickest patients.
There are more than 6,000 ambulatory surgery centers in the U.S., handling surgical procedures that require minimal inpatient services and coordinating rehab and recovery through clinics and home-based care.