Impact of Pandemic and Federal Support

Prior to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the national ASC market was already experiencing substantial growth due to its placement across two converging trends: the consumerization of healthcare services and the ongoing industry-wide transition from fee-for-service care to value-based care. Advancements in clinical practices and technology have enabled ASCs to safely provide a greater variety of surgical procedures with a consumer-centric focus prioritizing patient experience across each stage of care. These increased capabilities, coupled with a growing Medicare population, have driven a migration of higher-acuity procedures from hospitals to ASCs. Since 2005, the percentage of outpatient procedures performed at ASCs has grown from 32 percent to nearly 60 percent, according to the latest industry data published by Research and Markets. Shortly before the pandemic, Bain & Company projected that ASCs would perform 27 million procedures annually by 2021, achieving a compound annual growth of 5.3 percent over 2015 volumes and 6.4 percent over 2018 volumes.