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procedure at any time.
• Same-day testing. The facility features an anesthesia-run pre-op clinic,
where patients go to have all required testing and scans done before surgery.
Having the clinic in-house essentially ensures patients will show up on the day
of surgery with required testing completed, but even if they don't, we can send
them to the clinic to have the missing test completed on the spot.
Setting the tone
The facility was a huge capital outlay, and we had numerous conversations
about the ways we'd be able to generate a return on the investment by attract-
ing more patients and surgeons who'd bring in more revenue-generating cases.
We ultimately realized the importance of positioning our health system at the
forefront of patient care. We wanted to be proactive instead of reactive to the
changing surgical climate by ensuring our health system wasn't left in the dust
of competing construction projects.
OSM
Dr. Hutchins (hutc0079@umn.edu) is an assistant professor in the department of anes-
thesiology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.