As increasingly complex spine cases head to ASCs, the April 2026 issue of Neurosurgical Focus, a publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, is devoted almost entirely to the present and future of ambulatory spine surgery. The issue features these articles: Which spine surgeries belong in the ambulatory surgical…
Patient safety watchdog The Leapfrog Group yesterday announced an expansion of its Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Public Reporting Program. It says the redesigned initiative to rate the safety of nearly 4,000 U.S. ASCs will go public in late July. Leapfrog President and CEO Leah Binder calls it a “game changer,”…
Novant Health announced Monday that it received approval from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to build a 20-bed hospital and a freestanding emergency department in Brunswick County. “The new facilities will elevate access to healthcare in North Carolina’s fastest-growing county,” the health system stated. Novant Health Leland…
Suburban Chicago newspaper The Daily Herald reported over the weekend that Endeavor Health’s Edward Hospital plans a nearly $29 million investment to expand its cardiovascular services. The 20-OR facility in Naperville, Ill., is struggling with capacity issues, and told state regulators that due to its primary service area’s rapidly aging population, “projected…
A new retrospective observational study published in Scientific Reports examines the effect of insurance status on mortality following surgical treatment of colorectal cancers (CRC) in the U.S. “Healthcare disparities in colorectal cancer, driven by insurance status and socioeconomic factors, lead to delayed diagnoses and poor surgical outcomes,” the researchers write. “We…
Vision Innovation Partners (VIP), a managed services platform for Mid-Atlantic ophthalmology providers that operates 12 ASCs, has acquired Frederick (Md.) Eye Institute. It’s VIP’s 28th practice addition since its 2017 founding. Frederick Eye Institute specializes in cataract surgery and lens implants, but also employs “the latest technology” to provide care…
U.S. Reps. John B. Larson (D-CT) and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) last week introduced the bipartisan Outpatient Surgery Access Act of 2026, which intends to lower surgery costs at ASCs for seniors on Medicare. “Outdated Medicare policies are limiting access to high-quality and lower-cost care,” said Rep. Van Duyne. “Our…
Tennessee newspaper The Daily Times reports that Prisma Health is “one approval away” from constructing a 129,000-square-foot outpatient surgery center on land near the Royal Oaks subdivision in Maryville, Tenn., after the city’s Planning Commission approved a rezoning and land use reclassification request last week. The commissioners are consider rezoning an…
A new cluster randomized crossover trial study published on JAMA Open by Wake Forest University researchers examines whether continuous (rather than intermittent) vital sign monitoring reduces abnormalities in blood pressure, oxygenation, and heart rate during the initial 48 hours after noncardiac surgery. Using four-week ward clusters among 798 postoperative patients, “the…
At some point in our lives, most of us have dropped food on the ground, quickly picked it up, and ate it – the classic “five-second rule.” Should surgical teams apply the same “rule” when an instrument hits the floor in the OR? Most healthcare providers likely would think not,…
