Same-day surgery: management issues and future growth.

Abstract

Policy makers in all countries are searching for cost-effective, quality health care. In the realm of surgical care, one response to modern cost and quality pressures is same-day surgery. This article discusses three aspects of same-day surgery programs: key management issues; analysis of competitiveness; and, the growth potential of same-day surgery. Today's managers of same-day surgery programs are most concerned with issues related to their customers, be they physicians, insurers, or patients. Indeed, program managers identify market research, program development, and patient, physician, and facility management as areas critical to success. An exploratory survey carried out of ten same-day centers indicates that programs must excel in two areas to succeed. First, they must develop efficient and appropriate operations. Second, they must communicate aspects of these operations to different customers, realizing that each customer type is interested in different aspects of the program. This article provides a framework for the analysis of customer interests. It also suggests that surgery centers satisfy customer preferences rather better than do hospital outpatient programs. Same-day surgery will increase. Uncertainty lies in how quickly and in what form such activities in hospitals and centers will develop. Countries will likely experience different growth patterns, according to the relative power of factors affecting both the supply and demand of same-day surgery.