Hospitals and surgery centers offer different capabilities and specialties, and the outpatient surgical procedures performed at each type of facility vary significantly.
What are outpatient surgeries?
Outpatient surgeries are surgical procedures that can be performed on a patient without requiring an overnight stay at a hospital or other medical facility. Like other kinds of outpatient care, these procedures may be performed in a variety of settings, including primary care clinics, community health centers, urgent care centers, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).
Outpatient procedures are increasingly being performed in ASCs due to reduced costs related to staffing, upkeep, and overhead.
Using data from the Atlas All-Payor Claims Dataset, we’ve compiled lists of the most common outpatient surgical procedures performed at hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.
| Rank | HCPCS/CPT code | Description | % total outpatient surgeries at hospitals (2025) | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43239 | Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, flexible, transoral; with biopsy, single or multiple | 5.51% | Explore |
| 2 | 45385 | Colonoscopy, flexible; with removal of tumor(s), polyp(s), or other lesion(s) by snare technique | 4.33% | Explore |
| 3 | 45380 | Colonoscopy, flexible; with biopsy, single or multiple | 3.94% | Explore |
| 4 | 20610 | Arthrocentesis, aspiration and/or injection, major joint or bursa (eg, shoulder, hip, knee, subacromial bursa); without ultrasound guidance | 2.70% | Explore |
| 5 | 45378 | Colonoscopy, flexible; diagnostic, including collection of specimen(s) by brushing or washing, when performed (separate procedure) | 2.05% | Explore |
| 6 | 27447 | Arthroplasty, knee, condyle and plateau; medial AND lateral compartments with or without patella resurfacing (total knee arthroplasty) | 1.61% | Explore |
| 7 | 66984 | Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1 stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique (eg, irrigation and aspiration or phacoemulsification); without endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation | 1.45% | Explore |
| 8 | 93458 | Catheter placement in coronary artery(s) for coronary angiography, including intraprocedural injection(s) for coronary angiography, imaging supervision and interpretation; with left heart catheterization including intraprocedural injection(s) for left ventriculography, when performed | 1.32% | Explore |
| 9 | 49083 | Abdominal paracentesis (diagnostic or therapeutic); with imaging guidance | 1.12% | Explore |
| 10 | 27130 | Arthroplasty, acetabular and proximal femoral prosthetic replacement (total hip arthroplasty), with or without autograft or allograft | 0.95% | Explore |
Fig. 1 Data is from Definitive Healthcare’s Atlas All-Payer Claims product and represents outpatient surgical procedures performed at hospitals in 2025, the most recent full year available. Claims data is sourced from multiple medical claims clearinghouses in the United States. Data accessed August 2026.
| Rank | HCPCS/CPT code | Description | % total outpatient surgeries at ASCs (2025) | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45385 | Colonoscopy, flexible; with removal of tumor(s), polyp(s), or other lesion(s) by snare technique | 11.61% | Explore |
| 2 | 43239 | Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, flexible, transoral; with biopsy, single or multiple | 11.46% | Explore |
| 3 | 66984 | Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (1 stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique (eg, irrigation and aspiration or phacoemulsification); without endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation | 10.82% | Explore |
| 4 | 45380 | Colonoscopy, flexible; with biopsy, single or multiple | 10.02% | Explore |
| 5 | 45378 | Colonoscopy, flexible; diagnostic, including collection of specimen(s) by brushing or washing, when performed (separate procedure) | 5.85% | Explore |
| 6 | 66821 | Discission of secondary membranous cataract (opacified posterior lens capsule and/or anterior hyaloid); laser surgery (eg, yag laser) (1 or more stages) | 1.68% | Explore |
| 7 | G0121 | Colorectal cancer screening; colonoscopy on individual not meeting criteria for high risk | 1.63% | Explore |
| 8 | G0105 | Colorectal cancer screening; colonoscopy on individual at high risk | 1.48% | Explore |
| 9 | 64635 | Destruction by neurolytic agent, paravertebral facet joint nerve(s), with imaging guidance (fluoroscopy or CT); lumbar or sacral, single facet joint | 1.30% | Explore |
| 10 | 64636 | Destruction by neurolytic agent, paravertebral facet joint nerve(s), with imaging guidance (fluoroscopy or CT); lumbar or sacral, each additional facet joint (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure) | 1.06% | Explore |
Fig. 2 Data is from the Atlas All-Payor Claims Dataset and represents outpatient surgical procedures performed at surgery centers in 2024, the most recent full year available. Claims data is sourced from the Ambulatory Surgery Center Limited Data Set, released each January by CMS. Data accessed August 2026.
What is the most common outpatient surgery?
At hospitals, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with biopsy is the most common outpatient surgical procedure, representing 5.51% of all outpatient procedures. The next most common outpatient procedure at hospitals is colonoscopy with lesion removal, with 4.33% of procedures.
Colonoscopy with lesion removal is also the most common outpatient surgery at ambulatory surgery centers, representing 11.61% of outpatient surgical procedures. EGDs are the second most common outpatient procedures at ASCs, representing about 11.46% of procedures.
Colonoscopies are very common at both facilities and are among the priciest outpatient procedures for patients paying out of pocket, according to our data. Procedures within the colonoscopy subservice line account for 10.32% of hospital outpatient procedures and 27.48% of ASC outpatient procedures.
Looking at service lines more broadly, gastroenterology/digestive disease procedures lead overall outpatient volumes at both facilities, representing 18.56% of hospital outpatient procedures and 31.86% of ASC outpatient procedures.
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