How much does it cost to open a surgery center?

There are many things that go into calculating the cost to open a surgery center. One must first identify the important factors, along with the major expenses involved in building an ASC from scratch.

Topics:

• What is an Ambulatory Surgical Center?
• Cost Break Down
• EMRs for ASCs
• Why Choose Ambula?

What is an Ambulatory Surgical Center?

Before one can unpack the important factors and expenses that go into opening a surgical center, it would first be helpful to identify what exactly is Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) is and why these medical practices are the future of medicine. Briefly, an ASC is a same-day center for surgeries. These specialized medical facilities offer outpatient surgical care. This means each patient can go home on the same day they receive a specific medical procedure without being formally admitted into a hospital. In short, the main benefits of an ASC include:

• Fewer costs: no more overnight hospital stays = a smaller bill at the end of the day.
• Advanced care and faster procedures: All surgical procedures are done within one day.
• Fewer complications: less post-surgical pain and fewer rates of infections.
• Community-centered: ASCs serve their community by offering affordable services. These practices are often patient-centered with staff that is less distracted and more focused on individual needs.
• Better quality of care: Enhanced quality of care and patient safety comes first.

 

Cost to Open a Surgery Center Breakdown

In regards to cost, there are four significant expenses involved in building an ambulatory surgical center from scratch, including land acquisition, site development, design, and construction. 

• Land acquisition – One of the most important factors one should take into consideration surrounding the creation of an ASC is land acquisition. Real estate costs will vary widely depending on one’s geographical location, urban proximity, and site conditions. In general, the average ASC parcel costs about $800,000 to $1.2 million.
• Site development – Aside from land acquisition, opening an ASC also requires calculating site development costs. For instance, the site prep of a decent parcel (including routine grading, paving, and landscaping) will cost an average of $3 per square foot in the south-central United States. Whereas, the average cost in the central and Midwest states is $4 and $6 or more in the northern coastal regions for a 20,000-square-foot facility. 

• Design – Typically, the cost of architectural and engineering services ranges from about 7 percent to 10.5 percent of construction costs, depending on the scope of services and the degree of architectural involvement.

• Construction – On top of everything else, construction fees play a large role in overall ASC development costs. These fees often vary according to two factors: Location & Size. As we have previously mentioned, construction costs tend to increase as you move from the south-central United States, toward the northeast. Also, the more urban a project setting, the higher the costs. In general, the bigger the facility, the lower the construction cost per square foot.

With all of these factors taken into consideration, it can be estimated that a small, single-specialty ASC with approximately two surgical suites can cost anywhere from $2 million to $3 million, while larger, multi-specialty ASCs can cost anywhere between $4 million and $8 million. However, as was previously discussed, the scope differences, market conditions, along with variations in the aforementioned factors can cause costs to vary significantly. The cost to open a surgery center does not stop at building it.

 

Tech Cost of a Surgery Center

Besides the costs that surround the external structures of ASCs and their development, there are also many important aspects that go into creating the internal structure of an ambulatory surgical center. In order to ensure a successful practice, one of these aspects must undeniably include acquiring an EMR (electronic medical records) system for one’s ASC. This technological tool is key if you’re looking for efficiency and fewer costs. EMRs such as Ambula help ASCs store outpatient medical records and files in an organized manner and structure an office’s workflow in an electronic manner. This is important because with the many moving parts of operating an ASC, getting slowed down by paper is not something you’d want to start off as. Pricing for an EMR can vary from $1k a month to $10k a month depending on the size and so on. If you’re needing an affordable solution, check out our pricing here.

 

Why Choose Ambula?

Although many ASC EMRs are outdated and controlling, Ambula’s autonomy-focused systems provide:

• Design ASCs blueprints & designs 
• Build ASCs from the ground up
• 3-D model ASC design
• ASC EMR 
• ASC practice management
• Staff-controlled security access 
• Recording anesthesia-focused data 
• Managing patients’ pre-op, intra-op, and post-op charts
• Providing lawyer portals (essential for personal injury cases and pain management) 
• Ambula provides easy usage relying on customizable, automated tools. Thus, one’s unique workflow will be simplified as much as possible. Short and sweet, Ambula does it all so you don’t have to. 

Ambula is the future of surgical EMRs, with a special focus on Orthopedic and Pain Management ASCs. Ambula’s EMR workflow solutions help ASC staff members take care of patients from the first encounter to their final moment of discharge! 

In conclusion, ASCs and EMRs go hand in hand. You can find the best solution for you at Ambula Healthcare. At Ambula, we will investigate your specific needs and tailor-fit an EMR plan just for you!

For any additional inquiries about building an ASC, feel free to call the Ambula Healthcare team at (818) 308-4108. And now, how to market your surgery center, and who can own a surgery center?