Contact: Barry D. Buckingham
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PHC4 RELEASES STATE’S AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS FINANCIAL ANALYSIS 2020

Harrisburg, PA - November 17, 2021 - New figures released today by the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council (PHC4) show that the average total margin for Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) decreased 1.66 percentage points, from 25.04% in fiscal year (FY) 2019 to 23.38% in FY20. Statewide the average operating margin for ASCs decreased 2.88 percentage points, from 25.13% in FY19 to 22.25% in FY20. The Financial Analysis 2020 Volume Two report presents financial information on Pennsylvania’s ASCs.

“This reported decrease in operating and total margins reflects the financial impact on ASCs due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Barry D. Buckingham, executive director for the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). “Ambulatory Surgery Centers face financial challenges as Pennsylvania works to mitigate the fiscal impact of the pandemic.”

Report highlights:

• Pennsylvania’s ASCs reported 935 thousand total outpatient visits during FY20 and $1.3 billion total net outpatient revenue.
• During FY20, the average outpatient revenue per visit was $1,342 for the ASCs.
• The net outpatient revenue for ASCs decreased 11.3% from $1.41 billion in FY19 to $1.25 billion in FY20.
• ASCs performed 849 thousand outpatient procedures in FY20 which is a 15.9% decrease from the 1 million performed in the prior year.
• The total number of outpatient surgical procedures performed during FY20 at ASCs represented 23.9% of the total outpatient surgical procedures in Pennsylvania; the remaining 76.1% were performed at general acute care hospitals outpatient departments.

PHC4’s report on ambulatory surgery centers is the second in its three-part Financial Analysis series. Volume One, released in June 2021, reported on the financial health of general acute care hospitals. Volume Three, to be released later this year, will focus on non-general acute care hospitals (rehabilitation, psychiatric, long-term acute care and specialty hospitals).

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is an independent state agency charged with collecting, analyzing and reporting information that can be used to improve the quality and restrain the cost of health care in Pennsylvania.