Outpatient surgery
An outpatient operation is understood to mean certain surgical services that are performed in the practice , practice clinic or in the hospital without a subsequent overnight stay (hospitalization).
The aim of outpatient operations is to avoid unnecessary full inpatient hospital treatment by means of suitable collective bargaining conditions, if the disease and the patient allow this. In this way, more patient-friendly and more economical care can often be ensured. The cooperation between the hospital and resident service providers ( doctors , physiotherapists ) plays an important role, especially for the aftercare of such treatment .
Outpatient operations are usually carried out on referral from a resident doctor, who provides the surgeon with documents to avoid double examinations. The patient's right to freely choose a doctor also applies to outpatient operations.
In Germany , the approval for doctors to operate on an outpatient basis is subject to compliance with the "Contract according to Section 115b (1) SGB V - Outpatient surgery and ward replacement surgery in hospitals" (AOP contract) between the GKV-Spitzenverband , the German Hospital Society and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians was closed. The basic contract also includes a catalog of operations that can be carried out on an outpatient basis and other interventions to replace wards in the hospital, which are carried out according to the Uniform Assessment Standard (EBM) in accordance with Section 87 (2) SGB V. The operation and procedure code (OPS) has also been used for outpatient operations in hospitals since 2005 .