America's Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers 2024

Ambulatory Surgery Centers, where patients can undergo common surgical procedures such as cataract surgery or colonoscopy, have become a cornerstone of modern health care. These centers offer the convenience of quicker procedures, with the patient typically returning home on the same day. Unlike more intricate surgeries performed in hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers offer streamlined care focusing on efficiency and patient comfort.

- By Nancy Cooper

Across the United States, there are thousands of Medicare-certified ambulatory surgery centers encompassing various specialties, including orthopedic surgery, cardiac surgery, eye surgery and spinal surgery. To help our readers make informed health care decisions, Newsweek has partnered with the respected global research firm Statista for the fourth consecutive year to name America's Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

This year, we've expanded our list to 550 facilities, evaluating and recognizing centers in the 25 states with the most facilities based on U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data. For the remaining states, we have grouped facilities into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, West and South. We base our rankings on recommendations from medical professionals and a thorough analysis of the facilities' performance data.

We hope this ranking assists you when making critical medical decisions for yourself or your family.

METHODOLOGY

THE FOURTH EDITION OF America's Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers awards the leading 550 ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) in the U.S. based on quality of care, performance data and peer recommendations, relative to in-state competition.

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 an admission.

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 four regions: Northeast, Midwest, West, South. ASCs from these states were considered accordingly.

Over 5,000 ASCs were analyzed resulting in a varying number of ASCs awarded per state: California had 86 ASCs awarded, while Mississippi is represented with five.