Daycare surgery centers

The concept of organizing an operating theatre complex dedicated to daycare or "walk-in walk-out" surgery originated in some hospitals in the United States as far back as 1962. But it was the opening of Surgicenter, in Arizona (USA), the first freestanding facility, in 1971 that has pioneered the modern-day approach.
AmSurg Corp., USA is the leading player
with over 150 centers in operation.

laboratory

Traditionally, surgery has required the healthcare provider to meet inpatient requirements. However, inpatient facilities are expensive, inconvenient and less then savory to most patients.

Technological advances over the last two decades have helped address this gap. A large number of surgeries can now be performed without the patient having to be admitted at all. This has spelt vast advantages for both healthcare providers and consumers (see table below).

Surgery in an outpatient setting has become a global trend and is expanding throughout the world. It is estimated that by 2020, 75% of all surgical operations will be carried out in ambulatory surgery centers/units. Today over a quarter of the surgeries are contributed by ophthalmic procedures. The cost advantage of day surgery is best achieved in free-standing centers or totally free-functioning units within hospitals.


Day care surgery is now a popular and preferred mode of treatment for most surgical patients. In the United Kingdom, 55% of elective surgery is carried out in an ambulatory setting. Over 50% of NHS hospitals have self-contained day surgery units and the Ministry of Health is targetting over 70% of elective surgery on an ambulatory basis by 2010.

DAY CARE SURGERY : THE WIN-WIN PARADIGM
Consumer
Provider

point Better ambience

point Convenient scheduling


point More organized and friendlier staff


point More convenient location and parking

point High patient satisfaction


point Cost effective


point High volume, low risk surgery

point Lesser incidence of hospital acquired infections

point Streamlined approach to the surgical episode
In India, the concept of stand-alone daycare surgery centers is currently in its infancy. Most of the major hospitals have a separate daycare surgery center which caters to the management of ambulatory (also commonly called same day surgery) procedures. In India, about 20% of all surgical procedures are done on outpatients. Studies reveal that treatment in these centers would cost about 47% less than that in hospitals. This would be an economically better option for the Indian health sector, which is beleaguered with scarce resources.

 

Presently medical insurance providers reimburse expenses only when there is a recorded patient admission with the healthcare provider. With the growth of daycare surgeries, this rider imposed by insurance providers would see changes to be more in tune with current trends. Indian Healthcare insurance companies now already take care of some procedures like cataract, lithotripsy, arthroscopy, haemorroidectomy, chemotherapy, dialysis, etc.

Major categories of procedures performed in daycare surgery centers:

point Eye surgery, including removal of cataracts, eye muscle surgery and removal of foreign bodies

point Gynecological procedures including dilatation and curettage (D&C), laparoscopies.

point ENT surgery such as removal of tonsils and adenoids, functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS)

point Arthroscopic surgeries: diagnostic and therapeutic

point General surgery: hernia repair, hemorrhoid operations.

point Cosmetic surgery: scar revision, skin grafts and facial surgery

indianmarket

percentage

urology

 


Back