The number of ambulatory surgery visits in the United States increased 64 percent in 10 years, from 21.2 million visits in 1996 to 34.7 million visits in 2006, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Ambulatory surgery visits accounted for about half of all surgery visits in 1996 but nearly two-thirds of all surgery visits in 2006, the report said.
The report, “Ambulatory Surgery in the United States, 2006”, contains the first data on ambulatory surgery visits since 1996. Ambulatory surgery visits to freestanding centers increased three-fold from 1996 to 2006, whereas the rate for ambulatory surgery visits to hospital centers was relatively unchanged. Visits to hospital centers, at 19.9 million, continued to outnumber those to freestanding centers, at 14.9 million (57 percent compared to nearly 43 percent). The procedures performed most often during ambulatory surgery visits included endoscopies of the large intestine (5.8 million) and small intestine (3.5 million) and extraction of lens for cataract surgery (3.1 million). More than half of ambulatory surgery visits (53 percent) were paid by private insurance.
The full report is available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr011.pdf.
The National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS) data upon which this report is based are available to the public. The 2006 NSAS collected data about ambulatory surgery centers, their patients, and the procedures performed from a nationally representative sample of hospital-based and freestanding surgery centers. Federal, military, and Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals were excluded. Data were collected about each surgery center through staff interviews. Data were collected about patients and procedures from medical records for a random sample of each center’s surgery visits. Download the data at: www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsas.htm.
