Scheduling Upper and Lower Endoscopy as Different-Day Procedures Varies by Setting

When patients have indications for both an upper- and lower-endoscopic procedure, performing both on the same day has proved to be convenient, safe, and cost-effective; despite this, many are still scheduled for different days. This paper examined variations in practice based on the location of the procedure (office, ambulatory surgery center, or hospital) when both procedures were performed within a 90-day window.

Using a large Medicare database spanning a 7-year period, researchers identified more than 4 million paired procedures (53% in hospital outpatient departments, 43% in ambulatory surgery centers, and 4% in physician offices). In hospital outpatient departments, different-day procedures were scheduled in 14%; in ambulatory surgery c…