ASC Quality Collaboration

What ASC Quality Collaboration does

ASC Quality Collaboration (ASCQC) is a US non-profit organization founded in 2006 and headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, that operates as the only independent body exclusively dedicated to advancing patient safety and quality of care in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Its core function is the development of standardized ASC quality measures — specifically 11 quality measure definitions aligned with the CMS ASC Quality Reporting Program — and the operation of a voluntary quarterly benchmarking program that aggregates quality measure data from over 2,000 ASCs nationwide, producing the most comprehensive comparative dataset in the ASC industry. In February 2025 ASCQC expanded its product surface with the inaugural ASC Safety & Quality Assessment, a complimentary annual online self-evaluation tool covering patient safety, patient experience, infection control, medication management, and governance, which attracted nearly 400 participating surgery centers in its first cycle and entered a second annual cycle in May 2026.

The organization's technology footprint is a web-distributed platform rather than enterprise software: there is no public API, no mobile app, and no disclosed SDK; the Safety & Quality Assessment runs on a Qualtrics-powered online survey, with results returned as customized benchmarking reports. Practical toolkits — including the December 2024 Prevention of Wrong-Site Surgery Toolkit drawing on resources from WHO, ASHRM, and AHRQ — supplement the core offerings and are available as downloadable resources for internal improvement and education.

ASCQC's revenue model is membership-dues-based and non-commercial, organized around four membership tiers: ASC Enterprises, IT/Software Vendors, National Organizations, and State ASC Associations. The membership roster spans 35+ organizations, including the largest US ASC management companies (HCA Healthcare, AMSURG, Surgical Care Affiliates, USPI, NueHealth, Proliance Surgeons, Regent Surgical Health), accreditors (The Joint Commission, AAAHC, Quad-A, DNV, ACHC), patient-safety bodies (ECRI), professional societies (ASCA, AORN, OOSS), and a growing set of state ASC associations. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors; Nina Goins, MSN, RN, became Executive Director in March 2025, succeeding the retiring Kathy Wilson, with Becky Ziegler-Otis, MHA, serving as Assistant Executive Director. Distribution is conducted through the ASCQC website, the ASCA + SAMBA annual conference, podcast appearances (HST Pathways, ASCA's Advancing Surgical Care), media coverage in ASC trade press, and a growing LinkedIn presence — with no traditional sales force and an explicit freemium posture on the Safety & Quality Assessment.

Name

ASC Quality Collaboration

Legal name

ASC Quality Collaboration

Website

https://ascquality.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ASC Quality Collaboration is a US non-profit founded in 2006 that develops 11 standardized quality measures, operates quarterly benchmarking across over 2,000 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and runs an annual Safety & Quality Assessment for ASCs, funded by membership dues from a 35+ organization coalition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Quality Benchmarking

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Specialty Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) (HLAFAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Laboratory Quality Systems, Accreditation & Proficiency Testing Programs (HLAJAIAM)

Keywords

• Ambulatory surgery center quality
• Healthcare quality benchmarking
• Patient safety measures
• Quality reporting program
• Clinical performance benchmarking

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: ASCQC generates revenue through membership fees from ASC organizations, management companies, industry associations, accreditation organizations, and providers of surgery center products and services. The organization offers different membership categories including ASC Enterprises, IT/Software Vendors, National Organizations, and State ASC Associations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ASC Quality Collaboration is a non-profit organization that develops standardized quality measures and operates a quarterly benchmarking program collecting performance data from over 2,000 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). It provides an annual ASC Safety & Quality Assessment, evidence-based toolkits (such as the Prevention of Wrong-Site Surgery Toolkit), and resources supporting CMS ASC Quality Reporting Program compliance for surgery centers nationwide.

Product overview

ASC Quality Collaboration operates as a unified portfolio of quality improvement products and services for ambulatory surgery centers. The core offerings include the ASC Benchmarking program (collecting data from over 2,000 ASCs), Quality Measures definitions (11 standardized measures), the ASC Safety & Quality Assessment (annual self-evaluation tool), and ASC Toolkits (practical resources like the Wrong-Site Surgery Prevention Toolkit). These products work together to help surgery centers measure, report, and improve quality performance while meeting CMS reporting requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASC Quarterly Benchmarking Program Public reporting program that collects and analyzes quality data from over 2,000 ASCs across the country, enabling surgery centers to compare their performance against national benchmarks.
• Quality Measures (Standardized Definitions) Standardized definitions and requirements for 11 quality measures that ASCs can collect, report, and benchmark on, supporting the CMS ASC Quality Reporting Program.
• ASC Safety & Quality Assessment Complimentary annual online survey tool enabling ASCs to evaluate performance against nationally recognized best practices across patient safety, patient experience, infection prevention, medication management, and governance; participants receive customized benchmarking reports.
• Prevention of Wrong-Site Surgery Toolkit Comprehensive toolkit of clinical guidelines, assessment tools, staff training materials, and monitoring resources supporting wrong-site surgery prevention in ASCs.
• Data Submission Process Structured process enabling ASCs to submit quality measure data for benchmarking and national reporting purposes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 400 ASCs participated in the inaugural ASC Safety & Quality Assessment in 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• HCA HealthcarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHCA Healthcare is a member organization of ASCQC, contributing to the coalition of ASC stakeholders focused on healthcare quality and safety.
• AMSURGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAMSURG is a major ASC management company and member organization of ASCQC, participating in quality measure development and benchmarking.
• Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCA is a leading ASC management company and member of ASCQC, contributing to industry quality initiatives.
• United Surgical Partners International (USPI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSPI is a major ASC management company and member of ASCQC, participating in quality benchmarking and measure development.
• The Joint Commission (TJC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Joint Commission is an accreditation organization and member of ASCQC, providing guidance on quality standards and patient safety goals.
• ECRIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECRI is a patient safety organization and member of ASCQC, contributing expertise in safety assessment and quality improvement.
• Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASCA is the national trade association for ASCs and member of ASCQC, collaborating on advocacy and quality standards.
• Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAORN is a professional nursing association and member of ASCQC, contributing to surgical safety guidelines and training materials.
• Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAAHC is an accreditation organization and member of ASCQC, participating in quality standards development.
• DNVminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDNV is an accreditation organization and member of ASCQC, contributing to quality standards for ASCs.
• Kaiser PermanenteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKaiser Permanente is a health system member of ASCQC, participating in quality initiatives for outpatient surgical care.
• Quad-A (AAAASF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuad-A is an accreditation organization and member of ASCQC, contributing to patient safety standards.
• NueHealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNueHealth is an ASC management company and member of ASCQC.
• State ASC Associations (NJAASC, FSASC, NYSAASC, MASA, IFASC, Colorado ASC Association, Oregon, Arizona)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple state ASC associations are members of ASCQC, contributing regional perspective and helping expand reach to ASCs nationwide. New state associations joined in 2025.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA): The national trade association for ASCs. ASCA is both a member and close collaborator of ASCQC and serves overlapping audiences (ASC operators, management companies, and clinical leaders), making it the closest peer in scope and stakeholder base.
• Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN): The dominant perioperative nursing association and an ASCQC partner. AORN contributes to ASCQC's surgical safety guidelines and training materials, with overlapping clinical-quality focus.
• National Quality Forum (NQF): A national standards organization for healthcare quality measurement. NQF endorses quality measures at a national level, overlapping with ASCQC's role developing ASC quality measures.
• ECRI: An independent patient safety organization and ASCQC member. ECRI contributes patient-safety expertise and toolkits to ASCQC while running its own parallel patient-safety programs.
• Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC): A leading ASC accreditor and ASCQC member. AAAHC operates in adjacent quality-standards territory and competes for influence over ASC quality frameworks.
• AAAASF (Quad-A): An ASC-focused accreditation organization and ASCQC member. Competes in setting quality and patient safety standards for ambulatory facilities.

Others

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): The federal regulator that defines the ASC Quality Reporting Program. CMS is not a competitor per se, but it is the principal counterparty whose evolving rules determine ASCQC's value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• The Joint Commission (TJC): The largest US healthcare accreditor and an ASCQC member. Overlaps with ASCQC on quality standards, patient safety goals, and ASC accreditation, but operates across the full healthcare spectrum, not just ASCs.
• DNV Healthcare: A growing healthcare accreditor and ASCQC member. DNV competes with TJC and AAAHC for ASC accreditation business while overlapping with ASCQC on quality frameworks.

Emerging players

• HST Pathways: A leading ASC software/IT vendor and ASCQC member. HST Pathways runs the 'This Week in Surgery Centers' podcast featuring ASCQC leadership and competes in adjacent technology and benchmarking services for ASCs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/asc-quality-collaboration-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ASC Quality Collaboration