Because more than 80% of patients receiving anesthesia are either outpatients or "come-and-stay" patients (i.e., patients admitted to the hospital after surgery), patients cannot be evaluated preoperatively as they were during the 1970s. A new system had to be devised. The resulting set of questions is extensive, consisting of more than 100 items. The usage of a written or automated questionnaire to ask the screening questions, if coupled with a personal interview to pursue positive answers, does not decrease the accuracy or perceived personalization of the care given . Therefore, using this combination for inpatients as well , especially for "come-and-stay" patients. Our task is to explore in depth any positive results from the history-taking and to spend the rest of the time discussing issues that the patient is concerned about, as well as educating the patient about postoperative recovery pain and other plans and motivating him or her to adopt medications or lifestyle changes that have been shown to beneficially affect perioperative outcome. |
