Data That Matters: U.S. News & World Report’s Best ASC Ratings

New report carried no reporting burden for surgery centers.

If you’re looking for objective, meticulously sourced data to benchmark your surgery centers against similar facilities, you’re in luck.

On May 14th, U.S. News & World Report — the digital media company that has annually updated its Best Hospital Rankings for more than three decades — officially released its 2024-2025 Best Ambulatory Surgery Center ratings.

The new report was the first-ever rating of surgery centers in the company’s history.

Methodology

The report evaluated ASCs in four specialties:

• Colonoscopy & Endoscopy
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics & Spine, and
• Urology.

Within those four specialties, U.S. News & World Report identified 18 episodes of care — each of which was performed in at least 100 ASCs during the time period analyzed — involving a procedure commonly performed at an ASC.

For instance, the episodes of care within Urology included endoscopy of the urethra and bladder, and transurethral surgery (TURP) for enlarged prostate. Colonoscopy & Endoscopy only included colonoscopy and upper GI endoscopy procedures. Orthopedics & Spine included nine episodes of care, the most of any specialty in the report.

Eligibility

Unlike other “Best ASC” ratings, surgery centers in U.S. News & World Report’s ratings did not need to fill out anything to be considered.

Every ASC that treats traditional Medicare beneficiaries was automatically considered, and ratings were generated using Medicare fee-for-service claims for services rendered during calendar years 2020 through 2022 based on objectively calculated (no surveys of healthcare professionals or other subjective criteria) risk-adjusted outcome measures.

Specifically, ASCs that appeared in the Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting or ASCQR database in August 2023 (n=5486), as well as providers that, though absent from the ASCQR, were identified in the August 2023 National Plan and Provider Enumeration System or NPPES database as “ambulatory health care facilities” (n=395) were included in the report.

The collection method employed by U.S. News & World Report was strategic — as the company prioritized making the project one that avoided asking busy surgery center staff to voluntarily report and submit data. “It was extremely important that there was no burden on ASCs,” says Ben Harder, chief of health analysis for U.S. News & World Report.

At the 2024 ASCA Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., Mr. Harder hosted a packed session where he explained the data and methodology behind the Best ASC ratings and invited surgery center leaders in attendance to ask questions, provide feedback and raise their concerns.

Free resource

Surgery center leaders can view more detailed information about the methodology in the report by downloading it from U.S. News & World Report’s free Healthcare Dashboard.

They can also use the dashboard to view their own center’s ratings simply by creating a free account. OSM