Procedure Readiness Evaluation and Preparation (PREP) Center
All charts for patients coming for same day surgery (SDS) or admit on day of surgery (AMADMIT) procedures at the University of Maryland Medical Center originate in the PREP Center. Scheduled surgical patients are pre-screened to determine if they will be seen in the PREP center or will be reviewed by phone.
About 40-50% of these patients are seen in the PREP Center by our nurse practitioners for a pre-operative history and physical. The
anesthesiology residents evaluate patients prior to scheduled procedures and then discuss the cases with attending anesthesiologists. This team, based on the patient’s history and the nature of the surgery, determine the necessity of any preoperative tests, to approve the patient to safely undergo the proposed procedure. Preoperative testing may include an EKG, laboratory testing, chest x-rays or consults from other medical specialties (such as cardiology).
When patients are not seen in the PREP Center prior to a scheduled procedure, a nurse practitioner reviews all available medical information and calls the patient at home to collect information regarding the patient's medical and past anesthetic history. The clinicians in the PREP Center gather medical information in advance to facilitate the pre-anesthetic evaluation that will take place on the day of the procedure.
The only patients whose charts do not originate in the PREP Center are those who are inpatients at UMMC or are admitted and undergo surgery emergently.
In the PREP Center, we believe in a team approach to evaluating patients before their procedures. Clerical staff, patient care technicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, anesthesiology residents and attendings all work together to improve patient readiness and safety for their procedures scheduled at UMMC. On occasion, we also have medical students and CRNA students rotating through the PREP Center.
Patients with appointments in the PREP Center, receive pre-operative teaching, including detailed instructions regarding the continuation or discontinuation of their medications. During the PREP Center visit, patients also receive information on peri-operative infection prevention measures, such as pre-operative showers/scrubs and peri-operative management of diabetic medications.
Contact:
Jessica L. Galey, MD
Anesthesiology Director, PREP Center
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology
University of Maryland Medical Center
Phone: (410) 328-9972