Contact: Barry D. Buckingham
717-232-6787 or

PHC4 RELEASES STATE’S AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS FINANCIAL ANALYSIS 2021

Harrisburg, PA - October 13, 2022 - New figures released today by the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council (PHC4) show that the average total margin for Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) increased 1.61 percentage points, from 23.36% in fiscal year (FY) 2020 to 24.97% in FY21. Statewide the average operating margin for ASCs increased 1.58 percentage points, from 22.29% in FY20 to 23.87% in FY21. The Financial Analysis 2021 Volume Two report presents financial information on Pennsylvania’s ASCs.

“Our data indicates that Pennsylvania’s ambulatory surgery centers experienced positive margins in fiscal year 2021.” said Barry D. Buckingham, Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). “Ambulatory surgery centers play a vital role in the overall delivery of cost-effective healthcare in Pennsylvania.”

Report highlights:

• Pennsylvania’s ASCs reported 1.13 million total outpatient visits during FY21 and $1.53 billion total net outpatient revenue.
• During FY21, the average outpatient revenue per visit was $1,363 for the ASCs.
• The net outpatient revenue for ASCs increased 22.3% from $1.25 billion in FY20 to $1.53 billion in FY21.
• ASCs performed 1.01 million outpatient procedures in FY21 which is an 18.9% increase from the 849 thousand performed in the prior year.
• The total number of outpatient surgical procedures performed during FY21 at ASCs represented 25.7% of the total outpatient surgical procedures in Pennsylvania; the remaining 74.3% 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 2022, 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.