Powering care across ASCs and clinics

When clinic and ASC systems don’t talk, patients and providers pay the price

Caring for patients is complex enough, so managing administrative tasks shouldn’t feel like trying to solve a puzzle in the dark. Yet, for many practices, that's what happens when they operate on separate systems. This fragmentation leads to confusion, incomplete records, and frustration for clinicians, staff, and patients.

As more clinicians split their time between outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), the strain of disconnected health IT systems becomes harder to ignore. With ASC volumes anticipated to increase by 25% through 2029¹, practices can’t afford operational complexity. Disparate systems generate daily inefficiencies that slow down care, complicate documentation, and create barriers to delivering coordinated, high-quality care.

While clinics and ASCs serve different clinical purposes (longitudinal care versus episodic surgical intervention), they often see the same patients and are staffed by the same providers. The challenge arises when the software they rely on doesn’t reflect this overlap.

Let's look at why this happens, and what an integrated healthcare IT solution can do to solve it.

The challenges of disparate systems in healthcare

Anyone who’s worked between a clinic and an ambulatory surgery center knows the headaches that come with navigating different systems. Duplicate data entry, endless phone tag, and scheduling confusion are all too common, causing staff to often spend more time managing paperwork instead of focusing on patient care.

And patients often find themselves repeating their medical history at every handoff, wondering why their information isn’t already there. To them, it’s all just their care, there’s no distinction between “clinic care” and “ASC care.”

Physicians who work in both settings are familiar with these challenges:

• Frequently switching between systems causes more time spent on non-clinical tasks.
• Multiple logins and interfaces slow down care and increase cognitive load.
• Surgical data often lives in silos, risking missed or redundant entries.
• Billing processes are disconnected or unnecessarily complex, delaying reimbursements and doubling effort.
• Lack of integration with primary care workflows can result in patients missing essential follow-up care.

Perhaps most critically, when admission, discharge, transfer (ADT) data isn’t shared between systems, it disrupts continuity of care, which is a foundational piece of care coordination and value-based care (VBC) compliance. Modern care spans multiple settings. When technology does not align with this reality, the breakdown is felt by everyone.

Fragmented data makes VBC and quality reporting harder than it needs to be

Value-based care and quality reporting hinge on consistent and measurable data. Disconnected systems make that hard to do.

For instance, if a patient has a procedure at an ambulatory surgery center but the follow-up outcomes never make it back to the practice’s EHR, the quality data is incomplete. That’s not only a technical gap; it affects reimbursements and may make practices appear to be underperforming, even when they’re not.

But it’s more than reimbursement dollars. Without the full patient picture, it’s harder to deliver the personalized care that VBC aims to drive in the first place. When the same clinician delivers both episodic and longitudinal care, the lack of shared systems can directly affect their ability to meet performance goals and receive credit for the care they provide.

Here are some potential compliance and quality risks caused by disparate systems:

• Follow-up gaps: Missing ADT data can lead to gaps in follow-up and increased readmission risks.
• Invisible care: ASCs often bill fee-for-service, making care invisible in quality scorecards unless it's reflected in the clinical EHR.
• Attribution challenges: Clinicians may struggle to attribute patient outcomes to the correct setting or get credit for VBC metrics.
• Missed opportunities: Inaccurate documentation can disqualify patients from transitions of care (TOC) billing or care gap closure.
• Shared savings impact: Incorrect attribution of patient outcomes can distort performance calculations.

In short, reporting should feel like a natural extension of the work already being done. Even when delivering excellent care, clinicians may miss opportunities to close care gaps or meet ACO benchmarks if the disconnected systems they use on surgery days vs. in office days don't communicate with each other.

How an integrated clinic and ASC solution solves common pain points

Adopting an all-in-one healthcare tech solution makes things easier across clinics and ASCs, and lays the groundwork for better outcomes, stronger patient loyalty, and healthier margins.

Here’s how:

1. Fewer clicks, faster workflows

With integrated clinic and ASC software, clinicians can access all relevant information without switching between different systems. This integration allows for a smoother workflow where surgical documentation and clinic visits are part of the same record. For example, pre-op notes, post-op instructions, care plans, and results are all accessible in one place, reducing redundancy and ensuring everyone involved in a patient’s care is on the same page.

2. Connected patient records for comprehensive care

A single source of truth means clinicians always have access to the complete clinical picture. This means lab results, medication lists, prior authorizations, and care history are all available regardless of whether a patient is visiting for a routine follow-up or a same-day procedure. By having all this information in the same place, providers can make more informed decisions, reduce errors, and enhance the overall quality of care.

3. Unified billing and revenue cycle management

Managing facility and professional billing from a single platform reduces administrative burden and revenue leakage. Staff can apply codes accurately, track claims faster, and prevent duplication or denial issues that come from split systems.

4. Aligned reporting that works in both worlds

A centralized system enables accurate and comprehensive reporting of quality metrics, regardless of the site of care — making it easier to meet requirements for CMS and payer VBC programs and receive credit for the care they’re delivering.

5. Patient engagement without confusion

Patients benefit from a single portal that consolidates all their interactions with the healthcare system. From pre-op instructions to post-op communication, lab results, appointment scheduling, and secure messaging, everything is easily accessible. That clarity increases satisfaction, reduces no-shows and confusion, and strengthens trust across the continuum of care.

6. Coordinated care that closes the loop

With shared scheduling, automated reminders, and integrated communication tools, teams can close loops that often break between disconnected platforms. Whether it’s a two-week post-op check or a primary care referral, integrated systems keep handoffs clean and accountable.

As we look ahead, it’s important to recognize that not every “integrated” solution really connects these dots. The right solution meets you where you are, bridging the gaps between practices and ASCs while providing patients and care teams with the necessary tools to simplify access and improve patient care.

Building functionality for Ambulatory Surgery Centers

For decades, we’ve focused on building technology that supports ambulatory care. That work earned us the 2025 Best in KLAS award for ambulatory EHR. Now, we’re bringing that same experience to the ambulatory surgery space.

We’re building an ASC solution that extends the power of the athenahealth network into the outpatient surgical setting, starting with orthopedics and pain management.

These new capabilities will make it easier to manage surgical workflows, connect care settings, improve financial outcomes, and reduce the administrative burden clinics and ASCs face every day.

This is just the beginning. More updates are on the way, and we can’t wait to share what’s next.

Connecting the healthcare ecosystem with software that integrates your workflows across both care settings

Your work doesn’t stop at the clinic door, and your systems shouldn’t either. When technology supports the full picture of how care actually happens, it removes barriers, not just tasks.

If you’re running a private practice, a multi-specialty group, or both, having the right integrated clinic and ASC solution will connect your workflows, reduce admin strain, and help ensure you get credit for all the care you deliver — wherever it happens.

That’s the kind of connections we’re building. One solution, shared across care settings, that keeps your teams aligned, your patients supported, and your operations running smoothly.

Interested in technology that works the way you do? Get in touch and see how an integrated healthcare platform can connect your practice and your ASC.