What Every Patient Should Understand Before Having Outpatient Surgery

Checking into an outpatient facility for surgery is serious business. How smooth the process runs depends on how well you follow all instructions and procedures. I have worked as a surgical technologist in the operating room at a trauma hospital and at a private outpatient facility. Even though outpatient surgery is elective, it is still surgery. Anesthesia will be given, an incision will be made by a surgeon, and a procedure will be performed just like in a hospital operating room. To prepare you, here are a few things to remember.

1. Check your health insurance policy. When a doctor advises you that a surgical procedure is necessary, consult your insurance company. Too many people assume that if they have medical insurance, it means that all services are covered 100%. Check your policy. With most outpatient facilities, there is a co-payment that can cost you anywhere from fifty dollars to one hundred dollars. There will also be fees for anesthesia services and twenty-three hour care if your procedure requires an overnight stay within the facility. Know the costs up front.

2. Bring all required monies with you to the outpatient facility. The morning of surgery, make sure that you have a check or cash for the co-payment. If you are not sure of the final amount, call the facility before the day of the surgical procedure. I have seen patients come into the facility on the day of their scheduled surgery and claim that they didn’t know anything about a co-payment. Don’t let this happen to you. As a result, their procedures were cancelled. Months of preparation and scheduling went straight down the tubes.