Preadmission anaesthesia consultation clinic.
Many surgical procedures are delayed or cancelled due to inadequate preoperative assessment and preparation. We describe the case referral pattern and efficiency of our preadmission anaesthesia consultation clinic, which was designed to minimize this problem. Data were collected prospectively on the first 400 patients referred to the clinic. Sixty per cent of referrals were related to the cardiovascular system, in particular coronary artery disease (27%). Eighty-one per cent of referrals were considered appropriate. With ideal functioning of the clinic, delays and cancellations could potentially be reduced to 0.75% and 1.5% of cases respectively. The clinic was well accepted and appreciated by patients. We conclude that this represents a potential important reduction in hospital costs and improvement in operating room efficiency.
Conway
J B
JB
Department of Anaesthesia, Toronto Hospital, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Goldberg
J
J
Chung
F
F
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D000761:Anesthesia Department, Hospital; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010343:Patient Admission; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D013997:Time Factors