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Published on: January 18, 2018
A comparison of ambulatory perioperative times in hospitals and freestanding centers
Brionna Hair1, Peter Hussey, Barbara Wynn
1Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435, USA. bhair@email.unc.edu
Background:
The volume of surgical procedures performed in ambulatory surgical centers has increased rapidly.
Methods:
Ambulatory surgical visits of Medicare beneficiaries were compared for hospital-based and freestanding ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). The main outcomes were time in surgery, time in operating room, time in postoperative care, and total perioperative time.
Results:
The mean total perioperative time for all procedures examined was 39% shorter in freestanding ASCs then in hospital-based ASCs (83 vs 135 min; P < .01); surgery time was 37% shorter (19 vs 30 min; P < .01), operating room time was 37% shorter (34 vs 54 min; P < .01), and postoperative time was 35% shorter (48 vs 74 min; P < .01).
Conclusions:
Perioperative times were significantly shorter in freestanding ASCs than in hospital-based ASCs. It is unclear how much of the difference was the result of efficiency versus patient selection.
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