U.S. News Introduces List of Best Outpatient Surgery Centers

In the inaugural “Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers” ratings from U.S. News & World Report, fewer than 15% of nearly 5,000 evaluated facilities were rated as “high performing.”

Ten states had 20 or more high-performing ambulatory surgery centers, and among these, California had the most (96), followed by Florida (60) and Texas (50).

Additionally, in each of four specialties — colonoscopy and endoscopy, ophthalmology, orthopedics and spine, and urology — California was among the states to have the greatest number of top-rated facilities.

“Same-day procedures play an increasingly prominent role in healthcare as an alternative to overnight hospital care,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, said in a statement. “Building on our 34 years of experience evaluating Best Hospitals, we’re proud to give patients this new, free, data-driven tool to help them navigate their healthcare needs.”

The new “Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers” ratings come as U.S. News has continued to rank hospitals and medical schools amid pushback and withdrawals from participating institutions on the lists. Just last month, the publication announced that this year’s “Best Medical Schools” rankings were once again delayed due to inquiries from some graduate schools.

The list was a collaboration between U.S. News and healthcare analytics firm CareJourney.

Surgery centers were evaluated “entirely on objective, risk-adjusted measures of their patients’ outcomes, including how successfully they avoided complications, ER [emergency room] visits, unplanned hospitalizations, and other undesirable outcomes,” U.S. News said in announcing the ratings. And to “ensure fair comparisons … the analysis accounted for patient factors, including pre-existing conditions.”

Data sources included Medicare fee-for-service claims for services rendered during calendar years 2020 through 2022, the outlet noted in its methodology, as well as other CMS data sets: the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System and ASC Quality Reporting program.

Below are the states with the most top-rated surgery centers overall, and within each specialty. The full ratings are available here.

States With the Greatest Number of ‘Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers’

Arizona

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 27
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 167

California

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 96
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 559

Florida

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 60
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 415

Georgia

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 46
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 278

Maryland

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 36
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 230

New York

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 23
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 142

Ohio

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 20
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 168

Pennsylvania

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 37
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 226

Texas

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 50
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 363

Washington

• No. of high-performing ambulatory surgery center ratings: 20
• No. of rated ambulatory surgery centers: 133

States With the Greatest Number of ‘Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers’ in Each Specialty

Colonoscopy and Endoscopy

• California (34)
• Florida (17)
• Pennsylvania (20)

Ophthalmology

• California (25)
• Florida (17)
• Texas (16)

Orthopedics and Spine

• California (32)
• Florida (22)
• Georgia (21)

Urology

• California (5)
• Georgia (6)
• Maryland (8)
• New Jersey (5)