Preoperative clinic visits reduce operating room cancellations and delays.
BACKGROUND
Anesthesiologist-directed preoperative medicine clinics are used to prepare patients for the administration of anesthesia and surgery. Studies have shown that such a clinic reduces preoperative testing and consults, but few studies have examined the impact of the clinic on the day of surgery. The authors tested whether a visit to an anesthesia preoperative medicine clinic (APMC) would reduce day-of-surgery case cancellations and/or case delays.


METHODS
The authors conducted a retrospective chart review of all surgical cases during a 6-month period at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Case cancellations and rates of first-start case delay over the 6-month period were cross-referenced with a database of APMC attendees in both the general operating rooms and the same-day surgery suite. The impact of a clinic visit on case cancellation and delay in both sites were analyzed separately.


RESULTS
A total of 6,524 eligible cases were included. In the same-day surgery suite, 98 of 1,164 (8.4%) APMC-evaluated patients were cancelled, as compared with 366 of 2,252 (16.2%) in the non-APMC group (P < 0.001). In the general operating rooms, 87 of 1,631 (5.3%) APMC-evaluated patients were cancelled, as compared with 192 of 1,477 (13.0%) patients without a clinic visit (P < 0.001). For both operating areas, APMC patients had a significantly earlier room entry time than patients not evaluated in the APMC.


CONCLUSIONS
An evaluation in the APMC can significantly impact case cancellations and delays on the day of surgery.
Ferschl
Marla B
MB
University of Chicago Hospitals, IL 60637, USA.
Tung
Avery
A
Sweitzer
BobbieJean
B
Huo
Dezheng
D
Glick
David B
DB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009873:Operating Rooms; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies