Office-based anesthesia

Office surgery is defined as any surgical or invasive procedure performed in a location outside a hospital, hospital outpatient department, ambulatory surgery center (ASC), or other diagnostic and treatment center which results in a patient stay of less than 24 hours. All perioperative care (i.e., preoperative assessment and preparation, operation, and postoperative recovery) is usually performed in a one-operating room (OR) suite within a physician’s office. Generally speaking, office surgical procedures should not result in the loss of more than 10% of estimated blood volume in a patient with normal hemoglobin, should last less than 6 hours, and should not involve major intracranial, intrathoracic, or intra-abdominal operations. They are non-emergent and not life-threatening in nature. By contrast, hospital-based ambulatory surgery units and ASCs are licensed by the state and frequently contain more than one OR and provide services for multiple surgeons. The advantages of office surgery include the following: Lower cost Greater privacy and convenience for the patient More control over surgical scheduling Potential reimbursement advantages to the surgeon These advantages have led to the proliferation of office surgical procedures since the year 2000.