Ambulatory care in IR: time to engage

Healthcare expenditure in Europe is increasing on a yearly basis with the average healthcare expenditure among European nations amounting to 9.9% of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2018 [1]. Methodologies to reduce cost and use funding more efficiently have become the focus of most healthcare systems. In this regard, the development of day care surgery is increasing throughout the USA and Europe, particularly in the last two decades. Day surgery, in its early days, was reserved for simple procedures in selected patients. However, the pendulum has swung now towards considering day surgery in many elective surgeries. Hip replacement and knee replacement procedures as well as laparoscopic cholecystectomy are now considered as potential day surgery cases. Economically, it has been shown that hospital costs for day surgery versus inpatient surgery are 25%–68% lower [2].