METHODOLOGY

THE 3RD EDITION OF AMERICA‘S

Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers awards the leading 510 ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) in the U.S. based on quality of care, performance data and peer recommendations, relative to in-state competition.

The 25 states with the most facilities according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) were surveyed individually. the remaining states were grouped into regions: Northeast, Midwest, West and South.

Included ASCS operate exclusively for the purpose of providing surgical services to patients not requiring hospitalization and in which the expected duration of services would not exceed 24 hours following admission.

Over 5,000 Ascs were analyzed resulting in a varying number of Ascs awarded per state: California had 85 Ascs, while Mississippi is represented with four.

to create the ranking, a score was calculated for each ASC that was part of the analysis. The total score is based on reputation and key performance indicator (KPI) data sources.

REPUTATION SCORE

The reputation score (67 percent of total score) is based on three subscores: ▸ Recommendations ▸ Quality score ▸ COVID-19 score

Recommendation Score

In cooperation with Newsweek, from August to September 2022, Statista invited over 4,000 medical professionals (medical doctors/surgeons, registered nurses, nursing assistants, therapists) and staff working in the management/ administration in ASCS to an online survey. Additionally, experts from all over the U.S. were able to participate in a survey on newsweek.com.

Participants were asked to recommend up to 10 notable Ascs in their respective states. Recommendations for their own employers were not allowed. Recommendations received different weights depending on the order in which they were given, with the first recommendation being assigned the highest weight and the 10th best facility receiving the lowest weight.

The recommendation score constitutes 70 percent of the reputation score.

Quality and COVID-19 Score

For each recommended ASC, participants were asked to rate four quality dimensions on a scale from 1 (“Poor”) to 10 (“Excellent”). ▸ Management during COVID-19 crisis (e.g., safety & hygiene measures) ▸ Management of waiting time (e.g., appointments) ▸

Quality of surgical care (e.g., procedures) ▸ Quality of follow-up care

(e.g., physical therapies) The quality score constitutes 20 percent and the COVID-19 score constitutes 10 percent of the reputation score.

KPI SCORE

The KPI score (33% of total score) is based on: The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services which provides KPI data for Ascs.

The KPI data includes the following measures:

1 _ Endoscopy/polyp Surveillance: Appropriate Follow-up Interval for Normal Colonoscopy in Average risk Patients 2 _ cataracts: Improvement in Patient’s Visual Function within 90 Days Following Cataract Surgery 3 _ Facility 7-Day-riskstandardized Hospital Visit rate after Outpatient Colonoscopy 4 _ Normothermia Outcome 5 _ Unplanned Anterior Vitrectomy 6_ Hospital Visits after Orthopedic ASC Procedures 7 _ Hospital Visits after Urology ASC Procedures For a center to receive a KPI data score it must have reported a minimum of two measures within the reporting period. Centers that reported fewer measures did not receive a KPI data score and were rated based on the reputation survey score only. The rankings are comprised exclusively of facilities eligible regarding the scope described here. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data collection and analysis, is a reflection of the last 12 months. Furthermore, events preceding or following the period September 21, 2021 to September 21, 2022 and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated with the facilities were not included in the metrics. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations.

the information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about Ascs or, if possible, accompanied by a visit to a facility. The quality of ASCS that are not included in the rankings is not disputed.