Banner Health is broadening its use of co-owned ambulatory surgical centers in the Phoenix area to move specific electrophysiology and interventional procedures out of hospital settings. The strategy aims to reserve hospital capacity for more complex cases while potentially lowering costs.
Wilber Su, MD, director of cardiac electrophysiology at Banner Health and a professor of medicine at the University of Arizona, explained that the system has formed partnerships with private physicians and recently created an academic model allowing employed doctors to participate.
A key development enabling this shift is the recent decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to cover electrophysiology cardiac ablation procedures in outpatient centers. Su noted that technological advances have made treatments for atrial fibrillation significantly shorter and more predictable than they were twenty years ago.
He stated that these procedures, which once took four to six hours, now typically require only about an hour, making them suitable for daytime surgical centers.
At Banner’s University Medical Center in Phoenix, hospital electrophysiology labs often handle high-acuity patients, including those with ventricular tachycardia or complex redo procedures. When these labs are occupied, lower-risk cases are frequently delayed. Su said that ambulatory centers provide a parallel pathway for straightforward procedures, allowing hospitals to keep their most valuable lab space and staff available for patients who require hospital-level resources.
This distinction is also becoming important in interventional cardiology, where complex procedures like transcatheter aortic valve replacement occupy more cath lab capacity.
The ownership structure of these centers gives physicians a direct financial and clinical stake. In the arrangement described by Su, physicians hold 49% ownership, while Banner Health and an ASC management partner, Atlas, share the remaining interest. This model combines Banner’s commercial payer contracts with the management partner’s operational experience. Physician ownership is intended to align incentives around safety, quality, and outcomes.
