Here are 44 quality and clinical benchmarks collected from a variety of sources in the industry.
The following data are based on the ASC Quality Collaboration's Quality Report from the second quarter of 2018. There were 1,586 ASCs participating. The data was collected April 1 through June 30. There were 986 multispecialty ASCs and 600 single-specialty ASCs representing every state except Vermont.
1. Patient fall rate per 1,000 ASC admissions: 0.096
2. Patient burn rate per 1,000 ASC admissions: 0.015
3. Hospital transfers/admissions per 1,000 ASC admissions: 0.944
4. Rate of wrong site, side, patient, procedure, implant per 1,000 ASC admissions: 0.025
5. Rate of timely prophylactic IV antibiotic administration: 98 percent
6. Percentage of ASC admissions with appropriate surgical site hair removal: 98 percent
7. Percentage of eligible ASC patients with normothermia: 97 percent
8. Percentage of ASC cataract surgery patients with unplanned anterior vitrectomy: 0.44 percent
9. Rate of toxic anterior segment syndrome per 1,000 admissions: 0.12
10. Rate of emergency department visits within one day of discharge per 1,000 admissions: 0.86
11. Rate of unplanned hospital admissions within one day of ASC discharge per 1,000 admissions: 0.43.
The Accreditation Associaion of Ambulatory Health Care's benchmarking study is based on clinical studies of YAG laser posterior capsulotomy surgeries between January and June. The study includes 25 organizations with a combined 15,788 YAG laser posterior capsulotomies surgeries per year.
12. Eighty-eight percent of patients wait less than one month after scheduling YAG laser surgery before undergoing the procedure.
13. One hundred percent of patients resume daily living within a week of undergoing YAG laser surgery.
14. Eighty-nine percent of patients reported improved vision after YAG laser surgery in an ASC.
15. Ninety-nine percent of patients say they're comfortable while undergoing YAG laser surgery in the ASC.
16. Ninety-eight percent are comfortable after discharge.
17. Ninety-nine percent of patients report they would recommend YAG laser surgery after undergoing the procedure in an ASC.
18. Median pre-procedure time is 47 minutes for YAG laser surgeries, with a range of 18 to 75 minutes.
19. Median procedure time for YAG laser surgeries in ASCs is two minutes with a range of one to 11 minutes.
20. Median discharge time for cataract surgeries is six minutes.
Colonoscopy
The data in this section is based on a benchmarking study from AAAHC on clinical findings for colonoscopy from 47 organizations performing 199,522 annual colonoscopies between January and June.
21. Sixty-nine percent of colonoscopy patients report little or no discomfort during bowel preparation.
22. Seventy-six percent of colonoscopy patients wait less than a month between scheduling their colonoscopy and having the procedure.
23. Ninety-six percent of colonoscopy patients report scheduling their procedures as soon as they wanted.
24. Ninety-eight percent of colonoscopy patients experienced little or no discomfort during the procedure.
25. Ninety-nine percent of colonoscopy patients report being comfortable after discharge.
26. Ninety-eight percent would recommend colonoscopy at the center to others.
27. Colonoscopy procedure time is eight to 23 minutes.
28. Pre-procedure time for colonoscopy is six to 124 minutes, from patient check-in to scope insertion.
29. Colonoscopy discharge time is 16 to 52 minutes for ASCs.
Knee arthroscopy
The following is based on a benchmarking study from AAAHC on clinical findings for knee arthroscopy in the ASC based on data from 20 organizations that perform a combined total of 5,270 knee arthroscopies annually. The study was conducted between January and June.
30. Median pre-procedure time for knee arthroscopy is 108 minutes, and organizations with shortest times attribute results to educating patients on what to expect during the procedure at the preoperative visit and having consistent, reliable staff.
31. Median knee arthroscopy procedure time is 24 minutes in the ASC.
32. Median discharge time for knee arthroscopy is 67 minutes in the ASC, and organizations with short discharge times attribute results to using the appropriate amount and type of anesthesia specific to each patient and educating patients on what to expect in terms of pain management post-procedure.
33. Seventy-six percent of knee arthroscopy patients wait less than a month for their procedure after scheduling.
34. Eighty-eight percent of knee arthroscopy patients are able to schedule the procedure as soon as they wanted in the ASC.
35. Ninety-nine percent of knee arthroscopy patients say they are comfortable post-discharge in the ASC.
36. Over 99 percent of knee arthroscopy patients report little or no discomfort during the procedure.
37. Ninety-nine percent would recommend knee arthroscopy at the center to others
Low back injections
The following is based on a benchmarking study from AAAHC on clinical findings for low back pain in ambulatory care settings based on data from 28 organizations that perform a combined total of more than 47,598 low back injections annually. The data was collected between January and June.
38. Median pre-procedure time for low back injections is 56 minutes, and organizations with the shortest pre-procedure times attribute results to preparing the paperwork and educating patients prior to the day of the procedure.
39. Median procedure time is five minutes for low back injections in the surgery center.
Median discharge time after low back injections in the ASC is 21 minutes, with a range of six to 49 minutes.
40. Eighty-seven percent of patients wait less than a month from scheduling their low back injection to undergoing the procedure in the ASC.
41. Ninety-four percent of patients say they are able to schedule their low back injections in an ASC within a "reasonable" period of time.
42. Eighty-four percent of patients report returning to daily activities after undergoing low back injections in ASCs.
43. Eighty-three percent of patients say they experienced less pain after the low back injections.
44. Fifty-four percent reduced pain medications after the procedure.