Clinical scope
List specialties, procedures, participating physicians, projected case volumes, and expected patient needs.
ASC planning resources
A practical starting point for your ASC.
Use these discussion checklists to organize a new center or conversion project and prepare for detailed review with ACCESS and the professionals supporting your location.
Feasibility worksheet
Gather the assumptions behind the plan.
Business assumptions
Document payer mix, reimbursement assumptions, staffing, operating hours, funding, and sensitivity to lower volumes or a delayed opening.
Project context
Record the state, ownership, project stage, candidate properties, advisers, and target opening.
Site checklist
Compare locations on more than rent.
Access & location
Review patient travel, parking, accessibility, referral patterns, and emergency access.
Building suitability
Ask specialists to assess zoning, permitted use, floor area, utilities, structural constraints, imaging needs, and room layouts.
Commercial terms
Review property terms, construction obligations, contingencies, expansion options, and adaptation costs.
Budget checklist
Include the cost of getting to opening day.
Development
Property, due diligence, design, engineering, professional advice, permits, and construction.
Setup
Equipment, installation, IT, furniture, initial inventory, recruitment, training, insurance, and service contracts.
Opening runway
Pre-opening payroll, working capital, financing costs, and schedule contingency. Have your advisers validate the assumptions.
Opening checklist
Track owners, dependencies, and evidence.
Create a tracker with an owner, dependency, target date, status, and evidence for each workstream: approvals; facility completion; equipment; licensing and certification; payer enrollment; staffing and credentialing; policies and training; emergency preparation; and quality reporting.
Confirm the applicable sequence with agencies and advisers. This is a planning aid, not a determination that a center is ready to open.
Certificate of need
Start with a state-specific review.
Requirements vary by state and project. Use the overview to identify questions, then confirm current requirements with the state agency and qualified counsel.
NCSL: certificate-of-need overview ↗Certification
Review the federal framework.
State licensure, Medicare certification, accreditation, and payer contracting are separate workstreams to coordinate with your advisers.
CMS: ambulatory surgical centers ↗Accreditation
Discuss the survey pathway early.
Review survey options with your chosen accrediting organization as part of the opening plan.
AAAHC: survey types ↗Turn the checklist into a project plan.
Bring your assumptions and questions to ACCESS to discuss next steps and specialist support.
Contact ACCESS ↗