California Ambulatory Surgery Centers

A Comparative Statistical and Regulatory Description

William B. Vogt, John A. Romley

ResearchPublished Sep 28, 2009

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are rapidly growing as a setting for the delivery of health care services, both in California and in the United States. At present, little is known about either the measurement of quality in the ASC setting or about the regulation of ASCs by the various U.S. state governments. This report describes the California ASC landscape, compares California ASCs to hospital outpatient surgery departments, and compares California's regulation of Ambulatory Surgery Centers to the regulations of other states. The research revealed differences in patterns of volume and procedure specialization between ASCs and hospital outpatient surgery departments. These differences could have implications for quality if high volume is associated with quality or if more specialization is associated with higher quality. However, there is little research on these questions for outpatient surgery at present.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2009
  • Pages: 81
  • Document Number: TR-757-CAHF

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Vogt, William B. and John A. Romley, California Ambulatory Surgery Centers: A Comparative Statistical and Regulatory Description. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009. https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR757.html.
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This work was sponsored by the California HealthCare Foundation. The research was conducted in RAND Health, a division of the RAND Corporation.

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