Establishing concept of day care surgeries

Day care surgery or Ambulatory Surgery is a concept that is heralding change in ways of thinking and performing surgeries in the field of medicine. Established in May 2009, Nova Medical Centers has been a pioneer in the field of day care surgeries and has been responsible for increasing awareness about the option of single day surgeries, Sangita Ghosh De of eHealth explores.

With the growing concept of day care surgeries and its fast increasing adoption rate by the medical centres, Nova Medical Centers, the specialised day care surgery centre, has recently opened its second centre at Sadashivnagar, Bangalore. The inauguration of the new centre is part of Nova’s plan of establishing their presence across the country. Nova Medical Centres plans to develop 25 such centres across India by 2012.

Commenting on the scenario, Girish Rao, MD&CEO, Nova Medical Center said, “The openning of the second centre at Sadashivnagar is a reflection of our commitment to making world-class surgical care more accessible. Even as the urban populace grows busier, day care surgery centres will enable them to avail surgical care without having to spend too much time.”

Day care surgery or Ambulatory Surgery is a concept that is heralding change in ways of thinking and performing surgeries in the field of medicine. At a day and age where life is governed by time, the option of availing quality surgical care in the span of a day is a blessing for individuals and their families. Daycare surgeries represent the fact that a patient does not stay overnight at a healthcare centre and gets discharged in within a day. As a patient is treated in an outpatient setting, it is also known as Outpatient Surgery.

Researches say that around 70% of the total surgeries performed globally are day care surgeries and this trend is also on the rise in India recently. In India, almost 60% of all surgeries can be done in a day care mode as the current infrastructure supports. In day care surgeries, in just one year, Nova has completed 650 surgeries in Bangalore.

The genesis

Day care surgery has been into practice for quite some time in developed countries like the US. In fact it’s become increasingly popular all over the world for many reasons. Firstly, with the advances in technology, doctors have been able to perform minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures, secondly, the newer drugs used for anaesthesia allow patients to recover consciousness very quickly, so that they can go home soon after the surgery is over, and lastly, since modern painkillers are more powerful, patients experience much less pain after the operation and they can successfully relieve the pain themselves by taking these medications at home.

Studies worldwide have shown that day care surgery delivers the same high quality care as that given to hospital patients are much economical. On an average, research conducted in the USA has shown that procedures at day care surgery centres cost 50% less than those at hospitals, confirms Nova.

In the modern day hospitals, a post-operative patient is discharged as soon as the critical period or immediate post-operative nursing needs have been met with. This is evidenced by the establishment of plenty of day care surgical centres in the West.

Pointing to the advantages

• Pre-booked date
• Shorter waiting lists
• Earlier mobilisation
• Minimal disruption of patient’s personal life
• Earlier return to normal environment
• Reduced risk of cross-infection
• Less psychological disturbances in children
• Lesser chances of cancellation of emergency surgeries

Day care surgery has been defined by the Royal College of Surgeons as

when the patient is admitted for investigation or operation on a planned non-resident basis and who nonetheless requires facilities for recovery. This definition excludes upper and lower GI endoscopies, outpatient procedures such as flexible cystoscopy, and minor superficial surgery under local anaesthetic.

The cases are usually carried out under local, regional or General Anaesthesia (GA) or monitored anaesthesia. Facilities and standards of care in the day care surgical unit must be comparable to those provided for in-patient. The patient is to be formally admitted to day care unit, full work up and documentation is to be done and there should be facilities to observe the patient for 12 hours and with the possibility of admission.

The new beginning

Established in May 2009, Nova Medical Centers has been a pioneer in the field of day care surgeries and has been responsible for increasing awareness about the option of single day surgeries. The medical centres are equipped with the best in terms of technology and equipment and the management and advisory board include experienced professionals who are amongst the pioneers in the field of day care surgery.

Nova develops, acquires, owns, and operates ambulatory surgical centres in partnership with physicians across India. Nova provides leading physicians from diverse specialties with comprehensive ultra-modern facilities comprising doctor’s offices, operating rooms, diagnostics, imaging, health check up area, pathology laboratory, and a pharmacy.

By specialising only in day care procedures, Nova improves the patient experience, increases operating efficiency, and offers unparalleled quality and affordability.

The business model

Nova is funded by the GTI Group, a New York based private investment company, and New Enterprise Associates, a leading global venture capital firm.

Nova’s business model is based on a partnership between the company and 40 established surgeons from multiple specialties in each centre. Each centre has 4-5 operating rooms and is equipped with state of the art equipment to undertake surgical procedures. The pre and post operating beds/rooms are all equipped with gas lines, monitoring equipment, defibrillator and are supervised by duty doctors and trained staff. Although the focus is on day care surgeries, each centre has provisions for overnight stay including doctors and nurses as well. In addition to surgical facilities, the centre has outpatient consulting rooms and diagnostics also.

Patient care and safety is core to Nova’s ethos. Nova’s doctors and facilities utilise the latest technologies including surgical techniques, advances in anaesthesia and equipment. According to Nova, it can perform over 700 surgeries in General Surgery, Gynaecology, Orthopedics, ENT, Opthalmology, Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Urology, Gastrointestinal procedures and Dental through day care surgeries.

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