• Government
• Profession
• Business
• Opinion
• Health

• Health reform
• H1N1
• P4P
• EMRs
• Medicare
• Liability
• AMA House
• » More

• Book Excerpt
• Business Pitch
• Meetings
• » More

• Contract Language
• Ethics Forum
• In the Courts
• Practice Management
• Technically Speaking
• » More

• Bby date
• Regions
• Health plans
• Sections
• News briefs
• Columns
• Editorials
• Letters
• Writers
• Other years

• Search tips
• E-mail alert
• Radio
• RSS
• Mobile
• Subscribe
• Institutions
• Staff directory
• Advertising
• Permissions
• Reprints
• News media
• Site guide
• Useful links
• About
• Premium
• Contact

Pennsylvania surgery centers more profitable than hospitals

Experts say the popularity and efficiency of surgery centers helps fuel their success.

By Katherine Vogt, amednews staff. Sept. 22/29, 2003.

• PRINT|
• E-MAIL|
• RESPOND|
• REPRINTS|
• SHARE

Ambulatory surgery centers in one state had nearly six times the profit margins of general acute care hospitals, according to a new survey.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council surveyed 2002 financial data from the state's 101 freestanding ambulatory surgery centers and found that they had an average profit margin of close to 12%. General acute care hospitals in the state had a margin of just more than 2% last year.

"Clearly, the profit margins for ambulatory surgery centers stand out," said Joe Martin, spokesman for the independent state agency, which conducts the survey annually.

The figures, which were released on Aug. 20 as part of a broader survey of hospital financial reports, showed that the average profit for the state's ambulatory surgery centers in 2002 was roughly $299,000 on revenue of about $2.5 million. A year earlier the average profit was $321,000 on $2.6 million in revenue.

Experts say the results of the survey may be typical of trends across the nation, though the centers can greatly vary in business model, size and profitability. They say the popularity and efficiency of surgery centers may explain why they sometimes perform better financially than other medical facilities.

"I think it's just an idea whose time has come," said David Shapiro, MD, president of the American Assn. of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and an AMA delegate. "I think as medical technology has evolved, it has allowed us to make this really flourish."