Patient Selection and Optimization

Abstract

Day-care surgery, also known as outpatient or ambulatory surgery, is described as a planned operation or procedure carried out in an office or outpatient setting, where the patient is admitted, operated upon and discharged on the same calendar day and not admitted to the hospital as an inpatient (according to the International Association of Ambulatory Surgery). The rates of these surgeries are accelerating throughout the world, with 65% of all surgeries being done on an outpatient basis in the U.S. The patient, hospital and insurance companies are at an advantage with day-care surgeries because the outcomes include both an excellent safety record and improved quality of care that is cost-effective.