US News & World Report releases list of best ophthalmology ambulatory surgical centers in the US

(Image Credit: AdobeStock/atipong & US News)

US News & World Report has released its second annual insight into the Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) in the United States for ophthalmology, as well as colonoscopy & endoscopy, orthopedics & spine, and urology.

US News & World Report defines an ASC as a “freestanding health care facility that specializes in providing surgical and diagnostic procedures that do not require an overnight stay.” In the specialty of ophthalmology, the organization looked at centers that performed cataract surgery with lens implant, destruction of retinal or choroid lesions by laser (or other), glaucoma surgery, and surgical retinal and vitreous procedures.

The organization noted that due to feedback from ophthalmological experts, secondary membranous cataract surgery, also known as posterior capsulotomy or YAG laser capsulotomy, is no longer included in the procedures being evaluated. This is due to the procedure having a “lower risk than other surgical procedures evaluated in the ophthalmology specialty rating.” Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during a procedure were also excluded from further analysis.

Ambulatory surgery centers were evaluated based on “objective, risk-adjusted measures” of their patients’ outcomes, including how successfully they avoided complications, ER visits, unplanned hospitalizations, and other undesirable outcomes. For ophthalmology, however, ER visits were not included as an outcome measure due to the inability to determine if an ER visit occurred soon after surgery, and cost of complications and mortality rate were the main factors evaluated.

The organization also noted that some free-standing facilities where outpatient surgery occurs are classified as hospitals. This is because such facilities may be licensed under a CMS certification number belonging to an affiliated hospital and are officially part of the affiliated hospital’s outpatient department. Since the organization evaluates the best hospitals separately, those hospital-based facilities were not included in the analysis.

For the 2025 ratings, data was compiled from Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) claims for services rendered during calendar years 2021 through 2023. To identify facilities for inclusion in analysis, the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) and the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) program were used.

Overall, over 6,000 ASCs were included in the initial analysis, of which 1,910 were evaluated in ophthalmology. Of those 1,910 ASCs, 230 were classified as high performing (12%), 1,440 were average (75%), and 240 were rated as “other” (~13%).

California, Texas, and Florida ranked in the top 3 states with 33, 22, and 21 high-performing ASCs. Furthermore, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York were ranked in the top 3 metro areas with high-performing ASCs with 11, 7, and 7.

The states with the highest performing ASCs include: *

• California – 33
• Texas – 22
• Florida – 21
• Pennsylvania – 14
• Georgia – 11
• Arizona – 8
• Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia – 7
• Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina – 6
• Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma – 5
• Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington – 4

Additionally, Metro areas with the highest performing ASCs include: *

• Los Angeles – 11
• Atlanta, New York – 7
• Dallas-Ft. Worth, Philadelphia, Pheonix – 6
• Houston, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Pittsburgh – 5
• Tampa-St. Petersburg, Virginia Beach – 4

Notably, ASCs evaluated by US News as high-performing had, on average, a 54% lower severity-weighted complication rate compared to all ASCs evaluated for ophthalmology procedures.

A full list of the best ophthalmology ambulatory surgical centers is available online from US News.

*States and Metros not listed have ≤3 ASCs.

References:

1. US News & World Report releases second annual best ambulatory surgery centers ratings. US News & World Report. Published March 18, 2025. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2025-03-18/u-s-news-amp-world-report-releases-second-annual-best-ambulatory-surgery-centers-ratings

2. 2025 Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers. US News & World Report. Accessed March 18, 2025. http://health.usnews.com/best-ascs?src=usn_pr