The trend is undeniable…more and more patients are having surgery at their doctor’s office or in “outpatient surgery centers.” At least 15 million procedures are performed at more than 50,000 office-based locations, but only 22 states have any kind of regulations of such practices, and only a fraction of the offices are accredited by any of several independent review boards.
The Roanoke Valley has many such outpatient surgery offices including The Center for Surgical Excellence, Roanoke Ambulatory Surgery Center, Carilion Brambleton Ambulatory Surgery Center, The Center for Plastic Surgery at Ridgewood Hill.
Everything is great at these outpatient surgery centers as long as everything goes smoothly…no excessive bleeding problems…no intraoperative injuries to adjoining organs, nerves, or blood vessels, and no anesthesia problems.
However, the problem is that many doctor’s offices aren’t properly equipped to deal with patient emergencies and unexpected complications that arise during or after surgery, such as breathing problems. And the doctor’s offices may have small staffs with no time to properly instruct patients in follow-up care or call back after surgery to monitor the patient after discharge.
A non-profit organization, the Institute for Safety in Office-Based Surgery (ISOB), a group led by anesthesiologists and other practitioners, is leading an effort to establish national standards and regulations for office-based procedures. Check out the safety checklist….it might save your life!