Here are 22 statistics on the cost of care and patient volume in ASCs compared to hospital outpatient departments collected from Avanza Healthcare and Health Services Insights.
The number of Medicare-certified ASCs nearly doubled from 2000 to 2017, according to Avanza Healthcare Strategies' Outpatient Statistical Snapshot. Avanza gathered data from Advancing Surgical Care, Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, American Hospital Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield, CDC, Franklin Trust Ratings, Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Moody's Investors Service and The New York Times to create the report.
Medicare-certified ASCs
1. 2000: 3,028
2. 2017: 5,634
Total Medicare payments to ASCs
3. 2010: $3.3 billion
4. 2015: $4.1 billion
Medicare payments to ASCs per fee-for-service beneficiary
5. 2010: $104
6. 2015: $122
Total Medicare outpatient FFS payments to hospitals
7. 2006: $29 billion
8. 2015: $58 billion
Outpatient costs
9. Average net cost per hospital-based surgical procedure: $4,337
10. Average net cost per freestanding, ASC-based procedure: $2,429
Hospitals
11. 1981: 6,933
12. 2016: 5,534
Average hospital outpatient visits per 1,000 people
13. 1999: 1,817 visits
14. 2015: 2,251 visits
Total community hospital outpatient visits
15. 1994: 383 million
16. 2014: 693 million
A study published in Health Services Insights examined the difference in 7-day and 30-day hospitalization rates concerning outpatient surgical procedures at office-based surgery suites, ASCs and hospital outpatient departments. Robert Ohsfeldt, PhD, of College Station-based Texas A&M University, and colleagues conducted a multivariable logistic regression to compare risk-adjusted probability of hospitalization. Researchers examined 88 procedures performed between 2008 and 2012 in Florida.
17. Risk-adjusted hospitalization rates were higher for procedures performed at physician offices, compared to ASCs.
18. Across all 88 procedures, 7-day hospitalization rates were two times higher for procedures performed in an office-based center than in an ASC.
19. Thirty-day hospitalization rates for procedures performed in an office suite were 34 percent higher than when performed in an ASC.
20. When considering 30-days rates, hospitalization risk was greater for 27 of 71 individual CPT code models.
21. In an office setting, the 7-day post surgery hospitalization rate was 12 times greater than if the procedure was performed in an ASC.
22. Considering 30-day rates, the risk was 11 times higher in an office-based setting than when performed in an ASC.