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Ambulatory Anesthesia

The missions of the Ambulatory Surgery Division of the UMMC Department of Anesthesiology are the following:

• Provide as pleasant, convenient and safe an experience as possible for patients undergoing outpatient surgery and anesthesia.
• Manage ambulatory surgery and anesthesia in an as efficient and cost-effective manner as possible
• Provide educational and training experience for anesthesia personnel that are as similar to private practice as possible.
• Monitor and evaluate practice parameters and conduct applied research to continually improve our performance in the above areas.

The centerpiece of the division is the state-of-the-art Day Surgery Center facility. Its design provides a pleasantly relaxing environment for patients and staff. Also, this design allows efficient management of patient flow from admission through surgery to discharge. The Day Surgery Center is staffed with surgical and anesthesia personnel who are experienced and adept at accomplishing the missions stated above. This is demonstrated by our staff meeting or exceeding many of the industry's best practice standards in the first six months of operation.

In keeping with our mission of service to patients and our surgeon customers, we have registered nurses available in the main surgery clinic areas (e.g., the Medical Pavilion, Medical Mall, etc.) to provide convenient pre-anesthesia evaluation for patients scheduled for surgery. We are also implementing a pre-anesthesia evaluation by phone for eligible patients.

Currently, anesthesiology residents rotate through the pre-anesthesia evaluation clinic and receive training in evaluation of patients, their preparation for anesthesia and surgery and the formulation of an anesthetic management plan for each patient. We are in the early stages of designing and implementing a practice management curriculum based in the Day Surgery Center for senior residents.

We believe that we provide a superior level of patient care and customer satisfaction and continually work to improve in these areas.