Identifying Natural Alignments Between Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Local Health Systems

Objective: To develop and compare methods for identifying natural alignments between ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospitals that anchor local health systems. Measures: Using all-payer data from Florida’s State Ambulatory Surgery and Inpatient Databases (2005–2009), we developed 3 methods for identifying alignments between ASCS and hospitals. The first, a geographic proximity approach, used spatial data to assign an ASC to its nearest...