AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS CONTINUE to play a crucial role in modern health care. In the United States, thousands of these facilities offer colonoscopies, tonsil removals, biopsies, cataract removals, knee repairs, skin grafts and other procedures. According to Definitive Healthcare, there are over 9,000 active ASCs performing millions of procedures each year.
These specialized centers are a popular option for patients seeking safe, quality care outside of a traditional hospital setting. ASCs focus on less invasive surgeries, which means nearly 100 percent of admitted patients go home the same day, minimizing both inconvenience and costs.
For a fifth straight year, Newsweek is partnering with global research firm Statista to award America’s Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers. This year we’ve expanded our list to highlight the top 650 ASCs in the country. Over 5,000 ASCs were rigorously evaluated on key criteria including quality of care, patient experience, performance data and peer recommendations. We hope our rankings help you make confident and informed decisions when it comes to the health care needs of you and your loved ones.
METHODOLOGY
The 5th edition of America’s Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers awards the leading 650 ambulatory surgery centers in the U.S. based on quality of care, performance data, patient experience and peer recommendations, relative to in-state competition.
ASCs included operate exclusively for the purpose of providing surgical services to patients not requiring hospitalization and in which the expected duration of services would not exceed 24 hours following an admission.
The 25 states with the most facilities according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were surveyed individually. The remaining states were grouped into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, West and South. ASCs from these states were considered accordingly.
Over 5,000 ASCs were analyzed, resulting in a varying number of ASCs awarded per state: California had 118 ASCs awarded, while Mississippi is represented with five ASCs.
To create the ranking, a score was calculated for each ASC that was part of the analysis. The total score is based on a National Online Survey, CMS Measures, Patient Experience data and Accreditation data.
NATIONAL ONLINE SURVEY
Recommendations and quality assessment from peers. The Reputation Score (45% of total score) is based on two sub scores:
▸ Recommendations (80% of reputation score)
▸ Quality Score (20% of reputation score)
RECOMMENDATION SCORE:
From June to August 2024, Statista conducted a nationwide online survey among medical professionals (medical doctors/surgeons, registered nurses, nursing assistants, therapists) and staff working in the management/administration of ambulatory surgery centers. The survey was available to medical experts to participate on Newsweek.com. Additionally, participants were invited via email.
Participants were asked to recommend notable ASCs in their respective state. Recommendations for own employer/ambulatory surgery center were not allowed.
Recommendations received different weights depending on the order in which they were given, with the first recommendation being assigned the highest weight. Additionally, the professional experience of the participant was considered. The recommendation score constitutes 80 percent of the reputation score.
QUALITY SCORE:
For each recommended ASC, participants were asked to rate three quality dimensions on a scale from 1 (“Poor”) to 10 (“Excellent”).
▸ Quality of surgical care (e.g., procedure)
▸ Quality of follow-up care (e.g., physical therapies)
▸ Management of waiting time (e.g., appointments)
▸ Quality score constitutes 20 percent of the reputation score.
CMS MEASURES SCORE
The CMS Measures Score (45 percent of total score) is based on publicly available data: The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provides quality metrics data on ASCs in the Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program.
The quality metrics data includes the following nine measures:
▸ Measure 1: Endoscopy/polyp surveillance: Appropriate follow-up interval for normal colonoscopy in average risk patients
▸ Measure 2: Cataracts - improvement in patient’s visual function within 90 days following cataract surgery
▸ Measure 3: Facility seven-day risk-standardized hospital visit rate after outpatient colonoscopy
▸ Measure 4: Normothermia outcome
▸ Measure 5: Unplanned anterior vitrectomy
▸ Measure 6: Hospital visits after orthopedic ASC procedures
▸ Measure 7: Hospital visits after urology ASC procedures
▸ COVID-19 vaccination coverage among health care personnel
