Even as the popularity of ASC procedures rise and the costs remain lower than hospital outpatient departments in most cases, hospital outpatient departments are still outpacing ASCs in the number of procedures performed, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate Blue Health Intelligence's "Rising Prices for Hospital Outpatient Care" brief, published in September.
While most procedures are still more commonly performed at HOPDs, cataract surgeries proved to be the exception in 2022, with ASCs outpacing HOPDs by 69,060 procedures.
The counts for six procedures performed at ASCs versus HOPDs in 2022:
Mammography
ASC: 1,086
HOPD: 3,069,370
Colonoscopy screening
ASC: 62,768
HOPD: 85,295
Diagnostic colonoscopy
ASC: 443,335
HOPD: 489,409
Cataract surgery
ASC: 110,372
HOPD: 41,312
Ear tympanostomy
ASC: 25,733
HOPD: 48,343
Clinic visit
ASC: 8,672
HOPD: 6,485,708