The number of Medicare-certified ASCs has increased by 870 since 2011, according to a Feb. 13 report from financial advisory firm VMG Health.
The group gathered its information from publicly available data to create its "ASCs in 2023: A Year in Review" report.
The shift of higher-acuity cases to ASCs, along with outpatient surgery's ease of access and lower costs, have led to an increase in procedure volume at ASCs and payers, including Medicare, have become more willing to reimburse procedures in outpatient settings.
Here is how the number of Medicare-certified ASCs has changed since 2019:
2019: 5,788 Medicare-certified ASCs
2020: 5,837
2021: 5,906
2022: 6,028
2023: 6,087