Ambulatory Surgery Data From Hospitals and Ambulatory Surgery Centers: United States, 2010

Objectives-This report presents national estimates of surgical and nonsurgical ambulatory procedures performed in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in the United States during 2010. Patient characteristics, including age, sex, expected payment source, duration of surgery, and discharge disposition are presented, as well as the number and types of procedures performed in these settings. Methods-Estimates in this report are based on ambulatory surgery data collected in the 2010 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NHAMCS has collected outpatient department and emergency department data since 1992 and began gathering ambulatory surgery data from both hospitals and ASCs in 2010. Sample data were weighted to produce annual national estimates. Results-In 2010, 48.3 million surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed during 28.6 million ambulatory surgery visits to hospitals and ASCs combined. For both males and females, 39% of procedures were performed on those aged 45-64. For females, about 24% of procedures were performed on those aged 15-44 compared with 18% for males, whereas the percentage of procedures performed on those under 15 was lower for females than for males (4% compared with 9%). About 19% of procedures were performed on those aged 65-74, while about 14% were performed on those aged 75 and over. Private insurance was listed as the principal expected source of payment for 51% of ambulatory surgery visits, Medicare for 31% of visits, and Medicaid for 8% of visits. The most frequently performed procedures included endoscopy of large intestine (4.0 million), endoscopy of small intestine (2.2 million), extraction of lens (2.9 million), insertion of prosthetic lens (2.6 million), and injection of agent into spinal canal (2.9 million). Only 2% of visits with a discharge status were admitted to the hospital as an inpatient.