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sure patients receive detailed information about their day-of-
surgery experience. If there are any schedule changes in the
days leading up to the surgery, confirm that the patient is aware
of the new time. Don't let it fall through the cracks between the
surgeon's office and your facility.
3. Medication mix-ups. The patient didn't understand which
medications to stop taking and which to continue and is on a
therapy —blood thinners, for example — that necessitates can-
celling the case. Be sure patients provide an accurate and cur-
rent list of all the medications they're taking. Ask probing ques-
tions about specific medications instead of open-ended ques-
tions that force patients to recall or fail to mention on purpose or
by accident.
4. No ride home. The patient doesn't have a way to get home,
even though you told them to have a responsible adult on hand
to give them a ride and stay with them during the initial 24 hours
of recovery. The patient insists they're strong enough to take
care of themselves. They're not. Clearly state your facility's dis-
charge policy as it relates to rides home and post-op home mon-
itoring.
5. Insurance issues. This becomes an especially big problem
toward the end of the year, when patients might think they've met
their deductible, but actually haven't. Make sure patients clearly
understand how much they'll owe out-of-pocket well before they
arrive for surgery.
6. Unforeseen delays. Cancellations can occur when schedule
delays begin to stack up and windows of opportunity are missed.
Perhaps a surgeon can't operate late into the afternoon and doesn't
have time to perform a case that was delayed from the late morning.
