From the November 2020 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Of course, inpatient and outpatient hospital settings remain essential. In addition to intensive patient observation and overnight stays, they provide greater access to surgical backup teams and other emergent services. And as more routine imaging-guided procedures shift to ASCs and OBLs, hospital physicians can focus on highly complex, critical care procedures, including structural heart and neurovascular cases.
Continued growth in ASCs and OBLs over the next five to 10 years is predicted. However, that growth’s amplitude and velocity hinge on the degree to which each state’s regulatory bodies embrace this concept of free market healthcare. Some states restrict certain procedures in ASCs and OBLs regardless of whether Medicare reimburses for them.
In terms of emerging procedures in these places of service, expect interventional cardiology to take root alongside diagnostic cardiology. Image-guided procedures that have become firmly established in ASCs and OBLs may begin to incorporate advanced technologies such as 3D imaging and robotics.
Lower-acuity, image-guided procedures certainly appear to have found solid footing in ASCs and OBLs, with the golden trifecta of patients, physicians, and payers all slated to benefit from this migration.
About the Author: David Pacitti is president and head of the Americas at Siemens Healthineers. Back to HCB News
