The flight of joint replacements and other lucrative procedures from acute care hospitals to ambulatory surgery centers was happening before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crisis may prove to accelerate the trend.

“That shift was underway, but not very quickly: things never are in healthcare,” said Tim van Biesen, head of Bain & Company’s global healthcare practice.

Some 5,700 ASCs in the U.S. carried out 23 million procedures in 2018, according to data cited by Bain last fall. The year prior, ASCs reportedly carried out more than half of all outpatient surgeries, versus having 32% share 15 years ago.