NueHealth’s Future-Proof ASC Playbook

November 17, 2025 | Article produced and published by Becker's Healthcare.

With nearly 30 years of development behind it, ASC management company NueHealth has positioned itself as an agile, physician-centric organization built for the next phase of outpatient care.

The company has developed, managed or owned more than 150 facilities and partnered with over 3,000 physicians and 30 health systems.

A major part of its competitive edge, CEO Michael Sheerin told Becker’s, is that NueHealth has remained privately held. This structure allows leadership to invest in initiatives that may not generate immediate returns but create long-term clinical and operational value.

“Being privately held allows us to make decisions based more on long-term value than quarterly results,” he said. “A privately held company can be agile, innovative and really allows us to work with this incredibly rapidly changing healthcare market. One of the major attributes is the benefit of being privately held in our decision-making and agility.”

One example is the company’s investment in stay suites located next to ASCs. These hotel-like rooms support patients who lack a post-op caregiver or who live far away, enabling surgeons to shift more complex cases safely into the outpatient setting.

While expensive upfront, the suites have driven significant case growth at centers that use them. These programs often unlock procedures that would otherwise be limited by post-discharge requirements.

“More surgeons find comfort in their patients having access to these stay suites, and the patients love the outcome they’re getting,” he said. “We believe over the long term it has increased volume and surgeons that want to work at that center.”

NueHealth’s privately held structure also allows for flexibility that many management companies cannot offer. Unlike peers that require equity participation in every deal, NueHealth does not. This model resonates both with physician groups that want to retain ownership and health systems that want to grow outpatient capacity without giving up large stakes.

“If our client wants us to have skin in the game and have equity, we’re right there and ready to invest in the center,” he said. “If they’re worried about giving up their equity because of margin or the fact that there’s a lot of out-migration of cases from hospitals into ASCs, we manage the center.”

Another central component of NueHealth’s long-term strategy is its investment in value-based care infrastructure. The company offers bundled-payment–ready platforms, patient engagement tools, nurse navigation and claims adjudication systems.

“We believe wholeheartedly that our healthcare system is moving towards outcome-based, risk-based contracts,” he said.

Mr. Sheerin noted that NueHealth seeks partners who are truly aligned with value-based care, not those simply checking a box. NueHealth screens for mutual clarity before onboarding any new de novo project or JV.

“We are interviewing our clients as much as they’re interviewing us, because we will fail them if we don’t have a shared ideal around value-based care,” he said. “If it’s not their priority, then we’re not going to be a good target.”

Going forward, NueHealth will focus on responsible growth, operational excellence and deeper value alignment. On the growth front, the company plans to expand with health systems and physician partners without requiring significant equity concessions.

“Health systems know they need to get on the ASC train, but many don’t want to give up 25% of their equity to a passive investor,” Mr. Sheerin said. “We want to be seen as the partner of choice moving cases to the ASC environment without our partners making too many sacrifices.”