J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 3
We've found that pay-
ing to have anesthe-
sia providers admin-
ister propofol is cost-
neutral as long as
your clinical staff
capitalizes on the
drug's potential to get
patients ready for
discharge faster and
move more cases
through your proce-
dure rooms.
Research that has
focused on endoscopy
unit throughput when
propofol was used
often failed to demonstrate a significant difference in the number
of cases performed or how long patients spent in the unit
because staff had to complete necessary, but time-consuming,
tasks such as procedural documentation and patient education.
Even if the patient is fully awake and ready for discharge, your
staff might not be prepared to send them home. There's potential
for greater clinical efficiencies when propofol is used, but ade-
quate staffing and streamlined workflows are necessary to
achieve the greatest benefit from its rapid recovery potential.
— Adam Jacob, MD
Keeping Pace With Propofol
• RAPID RETURNS Propofol sedation typically leads to faster recoveries than
the commonly used midazolam-fentanyl combination.
CLINICAL EFFICIENCY
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
