PHOTO GALLERY: Behind the scenes at a cardiac ambulatory surgical center
This photo gallery offers a look inside a Banner Health cardiology ambulatory surgical center (ASC) in Sun City, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. The outpatient center has two cath labs used for low-acuity, straightforward percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, peripheral vascular interventions and electrophysiology (EP) procedures such as device implants or exchanges. This is one of several ASCs in the Phoenix area that are operated in a partnership between Banner and the private ASC management company Atlas Healthcare Partners.
Outpatient office based labs (OBLs) and ASCs are seeing increasing usage because they can perform cath and EP procedures at about half the cost of a hospital cath lab. This has led to payment incentives by payors to use these facilities to cut healthcare costs. While many of these centers are private ventures, some are being done in partnership with established healthcare systems. The Sun City ASC uses the same cardiologists that practice at the hospital labs and has the same equipment and devices that are found in those labs. These outpatient centers have allowed hospital cath labs to schedule more complex procedures without the need to build out more cath labs.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com