The future of the ambulatory surgery centers and acuity levels

Offering the one-two punch of cost savings and convenience, ASCs are increasingly becoming the venue of choice for both physicians and patients because of their ability to perform increasingly complex surgeries thanks to improved anesthetic techniques and less invasive surgical procedures-services that typically come with a much higher price tag when performed in a hospital setting. [...]recent legislation in Florida proposed that ASCs should be able to keep patients for at least 24 hours, and then allow them to stay up to 72 hours in a post-surgical Recovery Care Center (RCC), while Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois have all established licensing standards for RCCs. What service lines do you continue to offer in a hospital, and can a hospital be sustained by higher-acuity beds? [...]could you still maintain the healthcare delivery models that comprise the higher-cost centers of excellence, such as cancer centers and cardiovascular/heart centers, all of which need to continue to be in a centralized hospital to provide coordinated care.