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Show Same Day Surgery costs reduced same Day Surgery (SDS) is ving an important part of the juices provided at American Fork Alsoknown as ambulatory care or hort stay surgery, the unit is one of h newer departments at the JJljical facility, having begun Ictioning as an independent unit i n I 1983, A new same dav surgery unit was dedicated Sept. 10 of that year. presently 50 percent of all urgeries performed at the hospital admitted to the unit, hospital officials say. The same day surgery program is expected to be even more popular jce costs in the unit have been Luced by 23 percent. Noting ambulatory surgery is one of the primary ways to reduce the cost of health care in the United states, officials say same day surgery makes it possible for surgery to be performed in the most economical setting, yet new surgical technology can still be used. Beth Clegg, R.N., Department Manager, said patients treated through same day surgery may be admitted in the morning, undergo surgery and return home several hours later. Though not a new concept, it has only been recently that same day surgery has experienced a dramatic increase not only locally, but also nationwide. It is anticipated use of the service will continue to grow. Two primary reasons for this growth includes the big emphasis on cost containment with inpatient care costs escalating and insurance companies unwilling to pay the additional costs for overnight stays for procedures which can be done on a same day basis. It has also been determined that patients - grownups and children alike - do much better when not subjected to the trauma of an overnight hospital stay. American Fork Hospital has been diligently working towards a dramatic reduction in the patient cost of Same Day Surgery, according ac-cording to David Kjar, assistant administrator of finance. Mr. Kjar said as a result, same day surgery costs have been reduced by 23 percent. "We've been able to develop prices through a sophisticated standard costing system which was developed jointly between Intermountain Health Care and Ernst and Whinney (CPA's)," he said. Noting the costing system is the first of its' kind in the nation, he said it makes it possible to base price decisions on reliable cost information in-formation and to price services "more closely to the actual cost" than previously. This is especially true in the same day surgery area where the kinds of procedures performed are different than in other areas of the hospital. Mr. Kjar said hospital officials "intend to be responsive to the need for lower cost health care in Utah County." Presently, there are 114 procedures which have been approved ap-proved to be done on a same day basis at American Fork Hospital, and with a variation of some of these, this number could be extended ex-tended considerably further. Included among these are scope procedures involving the knee, bladder and stomach, tubal ligations, eye surgeries, foot surgeries, placement of ear tubes, tonsillectomies and adenoidec-tomies, adenoidec-tomies, hernia repair, other minor orthopedic, GYN, urologic . procedures, various plastic surgeries, and others. A distinct advantage of having these procedures done in a hospital setting versus a free standing surgical center is that should any complication occur, the patient can readily and easily be admitted as an "in-patient." Another advantage is that should it be necessary to perform more extensive surgery than originally believed, it can be done immediately without the trauma and delay of a transfer to another facility. Once it is determined by the physician that a surgery can be performed on a same day surgery basis, the patient receives a SDS packet of general instructions and admission orders. He or she is sent to the hospital 42 to 72 hours in advance ad-vance for initial lab and preadmission pread-mission paperwork which enables the personnel to check his lab work, prepare the chart and have everything in readiness. The patient is notified the afternoon af-ternoon prior to surgery of his anticipated an-ticipated arrival time. This is determined by his tentative time of surgery. Children under 12 are invited to attend the "Teddy Bear" party prior to surgery. This is designed to acquaint them with the hospital environment, procedures and expectations. ex-pectations. Post operatively, the patient is observed closely for several hours and, when it has been determined he is "stable," he is sent home with complete post-op instructions. These include a reinforcement of those given by the physician to the family. Within 72 hours after going home, a call back is made to the patient to ensure they had a good, positive experience, to reinforce any post-op teaching, and to answer any question thatmay have come up, and advise where necessary. Presently the Same Day Surgery unit at American Fork Hospital serves patients from an ever increasingly in-creasingly wide area, including many from Provo, Orem, Salt Lake City, southern Utah, Fillmore, Richfield and other areas. |