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AAASC files antitrust protection brief with Supreme Court

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, March 28, 2006

The American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (AAASC), along with the Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society (OOSS), has filed a brief petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear and overturn a decision in a Pennsylvania case that seemingly allows hospitals to take antitrust measures against ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) with the ASCs lacking normal antitrust protections, according to a press release from the AAASC.

The case, Gordon v. Lewistown Hospital, saw Alan D. Gordon, MD, a cataract surgeon in Pennsylvania, stripped of his staff privileges at the hospital seemingly as a result of his attempts to open a competitive ASC. The AAASC and the OOSS that the court ignored laws intended to protect physicians from peer-review actions based on competitive activities, according to the statement.

"The bottom line before the Supreme Court is the medical care provided to the patient-and our country's commitment to affording beneficiaries more and better surgical treatment options. Without protecting the rights of ASCs and the physicians who operate them, patients will have fewer choices and lower quality care at higher cost," said John J. Duggan, MD, AAASC president.

To view the brief, click here.

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