First U.S. outpatient surgery center opens, in Phoenix: the Phoenix Ambulatory Surgicenter. The most common procedure is myringotomy — a small incision in the eardrum to relieve pressure — on children.
1982
Medicare begins covering some surgical procedures performed at surgery centers.
1988
Number of surgery centers in the U.S. reaches 1,000.
2000
MedPac notes three procedures that have migrated to surgery centers: arthroscopy, endoscopy and cataract lens implants.
2007
Medicare broadens the procedures for which it will pay and changes the overall payment system to “encourage ASCs to expand their service mix beyond the handful of the highest paying procedures.”
2009
Medicare approves payment for laparoscopic hernia repair.
2010
Industry publication Becker’s ASC Review reports that spine surgery is moving toward the outpatient setting.
2014
Comedian Joan Rivers dies of brain damage after a routine endoscopy at a surgery center in New York City. That year, surgery centers reported 25 patient deaths in Florida and New Jersey alone.
2015
Medicare begins to pay for spine surgeries including neck fusion, lumbar fusion and decompression of the spinal cord.
