Effects of ambulatory surgery on the utilization of health insurance hospitals in Alexandria, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Surgery centres offering one-day surgery without requiring admission to a hospital are flourishing. It is believed that a considerable segment of surgical workload can be safely performed at these centres. The objectives of the present study were, first to find the opinion of the practicing surgeons and anaesthetists about those procedures that are amenable to the shift.Second, to identify the magnitude of better utilization at the two hospitals of the Health Insurance Organization when ambulatory surgery is adopted for these procedures. The study included 4 surgical specialities, namely general surgery, orthopedics, gynecology and urology, and 4 sub-specialities namely ENT, ophthalmology, plastic and neurosurgery. Results showed high preference for hospital controlled units, and working hours extending from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Among surgical specialities cystoscopy, diagnostic or therapeutic, constituted 84.3% followed by dilatation and curettage [70.1%] and anal and perianal surgery [42.6%] of all potential ambulatory surgical procedures. Among surgical sub specialities cataract, nerve repair and tonsillectomy and adenoids constituted 88.9%, 66.7% and 52.2%, respectively. Estimation of savings in hospital days was attempted