Electronic Referral and Booking of Outpatient Day Case Surgery Compared With Traditional Referral Routines.

Waiting time from referral to day case outpatient surgery is unacceptable long. In Norway it is as much as 48 weeks for common conditions like gallstones, inguinal hernia and sinus pilonidalis. Electronic standardised referrals sent by the Norwegian Healthcare Network, and booking of surgery by the general practitioner might be a way to reduce the waiting time and increase the cost effectiveness of outpatient surgery.

The trial is designated as a randomized controlled trial were selected patients (inguinal hernia, gall stone disease and sinus pilonoidalis) referred to the university hospital, were either randomized to direct electronic referral and booking for outpatient surgery (one stop), or using the traditional patient pathway where all patients are seen at the outpatient clinic several weeks before surgery.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients were eligible if they were diagnosed by their GP for an inguinal hernia, sinus pilonidalis or gallstone disease which require surgical treatment.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with medical conditions making them unfit for outpatient surgery admitted to the surgical department prior to surgery are not eligible