Healthcare Insights
How many surgery centers are in each state?
When a patient needs surgery that requires overnight observation or a guided inpatient recovery, the hospital has the resources and personnel necessary to ensure the best outcome. But for routine, less intensive surgical procedures, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) offer a cost-effective, safe alternative to the hospital.
Also known as outpatient surgery centers, these modern medical facilities specialize in surgical procedures and services that can be completed within 24 hours.
Using data from Definitive Healthcare’s SurgeryCenterView product, we’ve determined the number of ASCs in each U.S. state. Keep reading to see which states top the list.
Number of ambulatory surgery centers in the U.S. by state
Fig. 1 – Heatmap analysis of active ambulatory surgery centers using data from Definitive Healthcare’s SurgeryCenterView product. Data is based on the 2023 Medicare Ambulatory Surgery Center Limited Data Set and proprietary research.
Which states have the most ASCs?
California is home to the most ASCs of any U.S. state, with 1,210 facilities within its borders. That’s about 12.9% of all 9,334 active ASCs in the U.S.
Florida comes in second with 734 ASCs, or about 7.8% of the country’s total.
Texas is a close third with 724 ASCs, followed by Georgia with 527.
Top U.S. states by number of ambulatory surgery centers
| Rank | State | # of ASCs | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CA | 1,210 | Explore |
| 2 | FL | 734 | Explore |
| 3 | TX | 724 | Explore |
| 4 | GA | 527 | Explore |
| 5 | MD | 439 | Explore |
| 6 | PA | 383 | Explore |
| 7 | NY | 355 | Explore |
| 8 | NJ | 338 | Explore |
| 9 | OH | 311 | Explore |
| 10 | AZ | 286 | Explore |
Fig. 2 – Analysis of active ambulatory surgery centers using data from Definitive Healthcare’s SurgeryCenterView product. Data is based on the 2023 Medicare Ambulatory Surgery Center Limited Data Set and proprietary research.
Altogether, the 10 states with the most ASCs contain 5,307 surgery centers—more than half of all facilities in the country.
What are the benefits of ASCs?
ASCs are suitable for a variety of routine outpatient procedures ranging from colonoscopies to cataract surgeries to upper GI imaging. Because patients undergoing these procedures recover at home, they experience less exposure to bacteria and viruses from other patients and staff. This leads to a measurably lower incidence of surgical site infections, which is part of the reason care seems to be shifting from hospitals to ASCs.
Cost savings are another benefit of surgery centers. Without staff or resources for overnight observation, ASCs have less overhead than hospitals and often pass those savings on in procedure costs. Plus, most ASCs focus on a single specialty, further reducing operational costs.
For patients in decent health (i.e., with few comorbidities) and with limited risk of complications, ASCs offer a cheaper, more seamless surgical care experience than the average hospital.
Learn more
Healthcare Insights are developed with healthcare commercial intelligence from the Definitive Healthcare platform. Want even more insights? Start a free trial now and get access to the latest healthcare commercial intelligence on hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers.
You might also be interested in...
