DATE: October 31, 2019
CATEGORY: General
There was an article recently in USA Today that points out that 60% of all surgeries are done in same-day surgery centers. This is probably true and a great source of frustration for the hospital industry that has incredible political clout and knows patients prefer outpatient care. The article seems to be a bit unfair, further noting that 30% of anesthesia providers are not board certified in outpatient centers are not board certified. That is also true in traditional hospitals because you have to be a doctor anesthesiologist to be board certified and nurse anesthetists, not doctor anesthesiologists do most cases either in a hospital or in an outpatient surgical center. They also estimate that 1 out of three outpatient centers employ doctors that are not board-certified. Our surgical center is accredited by The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), licensed, and fully equipped. Both Dr. Turner and I are board-certified. I cannot speak for every ambulatory surgery center but our experience supports the well-established fact that patients are far safer in outpatient surgical centers than they are in traditional hospitals. We have done over 3300 tubal reversals since 2001 without any serious complication.