At SensusOne, we are always trying to expand our knowledge and thinking, particularly when it comes to the delivery of medical services and the facilities that support this. Since the development and ownership of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) is core to our strategy, we follow these trends closely.
A May 27, 2020 article published in Becker’s ASC Review, noted that the ASC market is projected to reach $7.2 billion in value by 2025 provided by MarketsandMarkets report. Becker’s offered the following five key insights:
- The ASC market’s projected value in 2020 is $2.1 billion.
- The market is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 27.6% from 2020-2025.
- The need for healthcare cost containment, improved healthcare quality and continued operational efficiency will drive ASC market growth.
- North America held the largest regional ASC market share in 2019, with Europe coming in second.
- Multispecialty ASCs captured the largest market share in 2019 due to the large volumes of procedures they accommodate and the reimbursement available for those procedures.
The growth in prevalence of the ASC model is driven largely by a changing healthcare system, but also by the preferences of both medical practitioners and their patients. ASCs offer a faster, more efficient, and cost-effective way to conduct approved surgical procedures outside of the hospital setting. These outpatient experiences allow patients to get in and out the same day, where they can recover at home with consultation from their doctor. The cost to the insurance companies is less than if the procedure was to be performed in the hospital, which serves to reduce the overall cost structure within our healthcare system.
While ASC’s were a growing market before the onset of COVID-19, the new public policy surrounding social interaction will further drive this trend as patients will be even more reticent to enter the hospital environment for their procedure, and healthcare systems will have an increased focus on patient safety. As more procedures are approved to take place in an ASC, these facilities could ultimately replace hospitals as the main location for outpatient surgical procedures.