Eighteen million operations were performed on an ambulatory basis in 1980. This represents 18% of all operations in that year. One year later in 1981, there were 250 free-standing ambulatory surgery units, and 12 months later the number had increased by 150%. George Hoffman's rule of 40 suggests that 40% of the operations performed in a community hospital can be done on an outpatient basis. Forty operations per month per operating room are needed to break even financially, and the cost is 40% of what it would be if the operation were performed in a traditional hospital operating room.
However it is measured, outpatient surgery is here to stay. This book addresses the administrative, anesthetic, and surgical problems and techniques in this burgeoning field.
After a section addressing the historic development of the concept, there follow 100 pages giving a pragmatic description of what hospital administrators, nurses, and architects need