Q We're developing a freestanding surgery center and would like to know what specialties to include. Can you give us an idea of the most common specialties?

A Performing at least 7 million surgeries a year in more than 3,600 centers nationwide, ASCs are one of the fastest-growing segments of the American healthcare industry. As you can see in the chart depicting the percentage of procedures by specialty, about 50 percent of the procedures performed in ASCs last year were in either ophthalmology or gastroenterology. Orthopedics, gynecology, plastic surgery and pain management are other common services performed at ASCs.