Leveraging the perioperative period to improve population health

Although surgical care has become safer, cheaper, and more efficient, it has only a modest impact on the overall health of society, which is driven primarily by health behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, poor diet, and physical inactivity. Given the ubiquity of surgical care in the population, it represents a critical opportunity to screen for and address the health behaviors that drive premature mortality at a population level. Patients are especially receptive to behavior change around the time of surgery, and many health systems already have programs in place to address these issues. In this commentary, we present the case for integrating health behavior screening and intervention into the perioperative pathway as a novel and impactful way to improve the health of society.