How to Change The Trajectory of Your ASC’s New Cardiovascular Service Line

Moving cardiology procedures to ASCs comes with challenges, from equipment requirements to securing proper reimbursement for high-dollar services. Yet despite these challenges, growth was spawned in that market after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ 2019 decision to begin reimbursing for cardiovascular procedures at ASCs.¹ In fact, cost implications serve as a primary reason for this shift, as performing various procedures in an ASC versus a hospital setting can reduce costs.² Other reasons to expand cardiovascular procedures into ASCs include expanding care to underserved communities and improving staff satisfaction.² In fact, one report noted that, “cardiovascular ASCs are the fastest-growing ASC specialty.”³

Some Common Challenges ASCs Face When Launching CV Services

Regardless of why a particular ASC may choose to make this shift, our ASC partners seem to face similar challenges when ramping up cardiovascular offerings.

• Maximizing Billables From The Start: Cardiology is both costly and complex, which means ASCs offering cardiac surgeries must act quickly to capture and collect every possible billable. While submitting clean claims is important, realizing the financial benefits of these procedures is impossible without efficient A.R. management – a time-intensive process requiring dedicated staff and resources, especially for high-cost cardiac services.
  • Ingredient for Success: By partnering with in2itive, the second longest standing billing company in the industry, ASCs launching CV programs can make sure their billing team is adequately prepared for daily A.R. management for complex CV procedures. Adopting modern technology and billing automation enhancements helps ensure accuracy and streamline the A.R. process. in2itive’s ASC partners experience an average of a 45% decrease in days in A.R. – imagine what you could accomplish by right-setting A.R. from the start?
• Carefully Coding Cardiovascular Services: ASCs also deal with cardiology coding challenges. For example, CMS has specific codes allowing ASCs to collect additional payment for packaged services, and there are specific CPT codes and modifiers for CV services conducted in an ASC setting.⁴ In general, there is a level of documentation and accuracy required for successfully billing CV procedures at ASCs.
  • Ingredient for Success: We at in2itive consider accurate coding the cornerstone of protecting revenue for healthcare organizations, particularly vital in ambulatory surgery centers performing high-dollar cardiovascular services. We partner with ASCs to improve and maintain coding workflows for consistent and complete information transfer throughout the billing process. And when launching a new service line, it can be especially crucial for future success to catch any errors or hiccups sooner than later.

Own the Trajectory of Your CV Program

With great challenges come great opportunities. Despite initial hurdles, cardiovascular procedures typically experience high reimbursement and potential for growth, pointing to CV as a strong revenue stream for ASCs.⁵ For ASCs looking to get a firm grip on the revenue cycle performance of their CV service line from the get go, in2itive’s Single Pane of Glass RCM approach offers a path for consolidating data in a way that provides actionable insights and next steps for protecting the health of your ASC despite launching a new venture. Over time, ASCs using this approach see accelerated payments and reduced revenue leakage.

Cardiovascular procedures have indicated a strong ROI, and many ASCs are harnessing the opportunity to move CV services into their centers. However, any new business venture involves risk, which is why it’s imperative to have a trusted RCM partner like in2itive in your corner to navigate billing challenges and chart a course using an ASC-focused account management system and data analytics offering.

Want to learn more about how to grow your cardiology service line with a billing company that’s harnessing human-centered, cutting-edge technology and automation? Reach out to in2itive today to discover how a tech-driven team can help your center’s new cardiac services program achieve maximum success.

Sources

1. CY 2025 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Proposed Rule (CMS 1809-P) | CMS. (n.d.). Www.cms.gov. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/cy-2025-medicare-hospital-outpatient-prospective-payment-system-and-ambulatory-surgical-center
2. (2025). Hmpgloballearningnetwork.com. https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/cathlab/cath-lab-management/cardiac-procedures-asc-right-move
3. https://fyra.io. (2025). Facing the Hurdles in the Race to Develop Cardiovascular ASCs – Cardiac Interventions Today. Cardiac Interventions Today. https://citoday.com/articles/2025-jan-feb/facing-the-hurdles-in-the-race-to-develop-cardiovascular-ascs
4. Nordley, B. (2023, July 28). Analyzing ASC C Cardiology Coding for 2023 – MedLearn Publishing. MedLearn Publishing. https://medlearn.com/analyzing-asc-c-cardiology-coding-for-2023/
5. https://fyra.io. (2018). The High-Performing Cardiovascular Service Line: Evolving Leadership and Governance in the Value Economy. Cardiac Interventions Today. https://citoday.com/articles/2018-mar-apr/the-high-performing-cardiovascular-service-line-evolving-leadership-and-governance-in-the-value-economy