Surgery centers with more than two specialties accounted for 30 percent of ASCs billing Medicare in 2016, and single-specialty gastroenterology centers accounted for 22 percent, according to The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's March 2018 report to Congress.
The report defines a "single-specialty ASC" as one with more than 67 percent of its Medicare claims in one clinical specialty and a "multispecialty ASC" as one with more than 67 percent of its Medicare claims in more than one clinical specialty. The sum of multispecialty percentages doesn't equal the total due to rounding.
Here's a breakdown on the specializations that billed Medicare in 2016.
Single-specialty
1. Number of ASCs: 2,876
2. Share of all ASCs: 61 percent
Gastroenterology
3. Number of ASCs: 1,025
4. Share of all ASCs: 22 percent
Ophthalmology
5. Number of ASCs: 1,015
6. Share of all ASCs: 21 percent
Pain management
7. Number of ASCs: 356
8. Share of all ASCs: 8 percent
Dermatology
9. Number of ASCs: 180
10. Share of all ASCs: 4 percent
Urology
11. Number of ASCs: 123
12. Share of all ASCs: 3 percent
Podiatry
13. Number of ASCs: 90
14. Share of all ASCs: 2 percent
Orthopedics/musculoskeletal
15. Number of ASCs: 29
16. Share of all ASCs: Less than 1 percent
Respiratory
17. Number of ASCs: 20
18. Share of all ASCs: Less than 1 percent
OB/GYN
19. Number of ASCs: 15
20. Share of all ASCs: Less than 1 percent
Cardiology
21. Number of ASCs: 13
22. Share of all ASCs: Less than 1 percent
Other
23. Number of ASCs: 10
24. Share of all ASCs: Less than 1 percent
Multispecialty
25. Number of ASCs: 1,855
26. Share of all ASCs: 39 percent
More than two specialties
27. Number of ASCs: 1,403
28. Share of all ASCs: 30 percent
Pain management and either neurology or orthopedics
29. Number of ASCs: 273
30. Share of all ASCs: 6 percent
Gastroenterology and ophthalmology
31. Number of ASCs: 179
32. Share of all ASCs: 4 percent
33. Total number of ASCs: 4,731