AcuityMD Presents New Outpatient Spinal Surgery Data at American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting

Share of spinal surgeries performed in an outpatient setting increasing 8% year over year – improving patient experience, reducing financial burden, creating opportunities for device companies

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AcuityMD, the intelligence platform for MedTech, is presenting new data on increased outpatient spinal surgeries at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 2025 Annual Meeting. The share of spinal surgeries performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) has steadily increased nearly 8% year-over-year from 2021 through 2024. The many benefits for patients, payers, and providers are driving current trends. For instance, ASCs can be 45-60% less expensive than hospitals and the Department of Health and Human Services estimated savings of $15 billion to taxpayers and $3 billion to Medicare patients if all qualifying surgeries were performed at ASCs.

Advancements in minimally invasive surgical technologies, such as improved anesthetic techniques and enhanced postoperative protocols, now allow complex spinal surgeries to be performed in outpatient settings. Because ASCs specialize in the procedures they perform, they can concentrate on safety and patient experience. Payers have also increased the number of outpatient procedures approved for reimbursement. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted growth when, in 2020, ASCs were cleared to resume non-urgent and elective procedures ahead of hospitals. Providers, patients, and payers embraced the change as spinal procedure growth rates in ASCs have continued to outpace those in hospitals since 2021.

However, the benefits of outpatient spinal surgery are not being evenly experienced across the nation. Connecticut, Indiana, and North Carolina have seen high growth of spinal surgeries performed in ASCs, for instance, while neighboring states Massachusetts, Kentucky, and South Carolina fall below the national average for growth. Factors driving ASC surgical disparities could include state regulations, provider preferences, and reimbursement rates.

“These disparities present opportunities for new ASCs to open and provide convenient and high-quality care for patients needing spinal procedures,” explained Ross Feinstein, AcuityMD Vice President of Product. “Large state-to-state variance in adoption rates open the door for follow-up studies into the underlying causes driving these differences. In the meantime, we see opportunities for MedTech companies working to quickly bring their innovations to more physicians nationwide.”

AcuityMD’s intelligence platform is built for the unique MedTech commercial process and combines streamlined workflows with robust data, like that being presented at AAOS, enabling sales, marketing, and national accounts teams to build comprehensive strategies focused on their best opportunities. AcuityMD’s platform modules include Pipeline, Targeting, Markets, Territories, Contracts, and Care Journeys.

Learn more by attending AcuityMD’s presentation at AAOS 2025 on March 12th at 12:00 p.m. and at Booth #2705, or read more about the results of AcuityMD’s latest study here.

About AcuityMD

AcuityMD is the intelligence platform for the medical technology (MedTech) industry. More than 300 MedTech companies – including six of the top 10 – use AcuityMD to identify target markets, surface top opportunities, and grow their business. With customers ranging from pre-commercial to enterprise, AcuityMD is committed to delivering the right insights so companies can understand where and how to sell faster to accelerate the adoption of medical technology.