The Challenges of Gathering and Interpreting National Data on Ambulatory Surgery Over Time

• Activity Number: 89
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 4, 2013 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
• Author(s): Margaret Jean Hall*+
• Companies: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Keywords: ambulatory surgery ; National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey ; National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery ; outpatient surgery

Abstract

Since 2009, annual nationally representative data on ambulatory surgery have been gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as part of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Previously NHAMCS included annual outpatient and emergency department data, and the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS) collected data on ambulatory surgery for 1994-1996 and 2006. Adding ambulatory surgery data collection to NHAMCS was complex and carried out with a limited budget which did not permit updating the frame for freestanding centers. The sample of facilities was half of what it was in the 2006 NSAS resulting in higher standard errors. Changes to Medicare reimbursement for both outpatient surgery in the hospital and in ambulatory surgery centers, and the passage of the health care reform legislation, affected the organization and delivery of care between 2006 and the present time. This presentation details challenges faced during data collection and the analysis and interpretation of the data, and especially with comparison of ambulatory surgery estimates from NHAMCS, to the earlier estimates from NSAS.