Between 2014 and 2020, the number of Medicarecertified Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) increased by 11% and the volume of Medicare payments for ASC procedures increased by 29%. This growth, both in terms of procedures and facilities, shows no signs of slowing as the ASC market is expected to deliver a 7% revenue CAGR through 2028 as well as 25% growth in procedural volume. 

Payers are steering their covered lives to these lower-cost sites of care. Physicians like both the control and the potential for income enhancement. Patients, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, are also showing a preference for these smaller settings. For MedTech manufacturers, the implications of this market shift are significant. Established commercial models are designed for the traditional hospital customer, and they risk share loss to competitors better prepared for the ASC opportunity. 

Before diving in, it’s important to define the ASC, as compared to alternative outpatient sites of service (like office-based labs and hybrid facilities that are becoming more prevalent in cardiology). ASCs are freestanding facilities, other than a physician’s office, where diagnostic and surgical services are performed.4 An office-based lab (OBL) is a location where a healthcare provider (HCP) provides all services at the same location – exams, diagnosis, and treatment. A hybrid facility operates as an ASC for some of the week and an OBL for the remainder.5 Although there are operational differences between these outpatient settings (ASCs, OBLs, and hybrid facilities), the needs and challenges facing the owners and operators of these facilities are similar. For manufacturers considering targeting any of these facilities, the forthcoming insights and recommendations hold true in the development of medical device commercialization strategies.