The impact of an ambulatory surgical service in a community hospital
H. A. Laffaye
Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.
The purpose of this study was to quantify the savings accrued from shifting
surgical cases from an inpatient to an outpatient setting. There was no
increase in the total number of operations from 7952 in 1973 to 10,250 in
1987. The percentage of ambulatory procedures showed a continuous increase
from 17.9% to 56.3%. The 15-year experience accumulated at this institution
now exceeds 43,000 cases, with no mortality. The study closely examined
hospital charges, not costs, for 2 months, which were then annualized. The
calculated average savings per case was $2000 and 3.07 hospital days. The
estimated savings for fiscal 1987 were $11.5 million and 17,726 hospital
days. Based on this experience, the operation of an in-hospital ambulatory
surgical unit is recommended as a cost-saving, safe, and efficient method
of performing many surgical procedures.