The Ambulatory Surgical Centers Market: High hospitalization costs have also translated into dipping patient admissions in hospitals, with the number of outpatient visits witnessing a surge

The Ambulatory Surgical Centers Market is projected to reach USD 7.2 billion by 2027 from 2.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 27.6 % during the forecast period.

Ambulatory Surgical Centres (ASCs) are healthcare facilities focussing on delivering same-day surgical care, including diagnostic and surgical (preventive) procedures. These are also called outpatient surgery centres and same day care centres in certain countries such as the U.K., Germany and certain Asian countries. Ambulatory surgical centres are highly regulated by federal and state entities to ensure safety and quality.

The first ASC was established in 1970, in Phoenix, Arizona. As per the Center of Medicare and Medical Services, the number for Medicare certified ASCs in the U.S. totalled 5,400 in 2015. Various specialties offered in ASCs include ophthalmology, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, pain management, urology, dermatology and others. Most ASCs today are owned and operated by community physicians. Some ASCs are jointly owned by local hospitals and physicians.

Growth of the global ambulatory surgical centres market is principally driven by a growing focus on containment of healthcare costs and increased Medicare spending on ASCs. ASCs are primarily focussed on increasing number of facilities and types of procedures performed. Increasing the types of procedures provided offers ASCs with greater variety of reimbursement opportunities. ASCs across the world are constantly making efforts to expand their range of services to drive patient influx and increase revenues. The growth of ASC surgeries is likely to continue to outpace hospital outpatient surgical growth. Also technological advancements and market consolidation have led to ASCs supporting more complex cases such as major spine, total hip, platelet, and plasma therapy cases.

Various healthcare organisations such as Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), healthcare systems and large group practices are developing multiple speciality facilities within the premises of their primary healthcare facility thus establishing attractive global market share. This helps the facility to grow at a faster pace and gain larger market share. Thus, the market is facing immense competition and market contributors are finding it difficult to reap profits.

The major trend witnessed in the global ambulatory surgical centres market is a declining number of free standing ambulatory surgical centres, whereas more centres are built within a larger facility that offers a wider array of ambulatory care services to achieve economies of scale and gain a competitive edge.
Cerner Corporation (US), McKesson Corporation (US), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (US), GE Healthcare (US), Philips Healthcare (Netherlands), athenahealth, Inc. (US), Optum (US), Epic Systems Corporation (US), Medical Information Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH) (US), eClinicalWorks (US), athenahealth, Inc. (US), Advanced Data Systems Corporation (US), NextGen Healthcare (US), CureMD (US), HST Pathways (US), and Surgical Information Systems (US).

North America accounted for the largest share of the Ambulatory surgical centers market, followed by Europe. The large share of this region can be attributed to the high adoption of Ambulatory surgical centers for reducing the soaring healthcare costs, increasing volume of surgical procedures performed, and the presence of significant market players, such as Epic Systems Corporation (US), Cerner Corporation (US), McKesson Corporation (US), Philips Healthcare (Netherlands), and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (US).