12 Questions to Ask Before You Schedule an Outpatient Procedure

Most people spend more time researching a hotel than they spend vetting the facility where they're about to have surgery. That's understandable — surgery is stressful, scheduling is confusing, and it's easy to defer to whatever your doctor recommends without asking many questions. But a few targeted questions asked before you schedule can meaningfully change your experience and your outcome.

These aren't gotcha questions. They're the ones a well-informed patient asks — and a good facility will answer them without hesitation.

About the facility

1. Is this facility Medicare-certified and accredited — and by whom? Medicare certification is the baseline required to accept Medicare patients. Accreditation by AAAHC, AAAASF, or The Joint Commission goes further. If a facility can't answer this directly, that tells you something.

2. How many of this procedure do you perform per year? Volume matters. Higher-volume facilities have more experienced teams and more refined protocols. A facility that does 500 colonoscopies a year is different from one that does 50.

3. What is your unplanned hospital transfer rate for this procedure? Every Medicare-certified ASC must track this. The rate should be low for routine elective procedures — typically under 1%. A facility that can't answer the question or gets defensive hasn't thought carefully about safety.

4. What hospital do you have a transfer agreement with, and how far away is it? If something goes wrong, this matters. Know the answer before you're in the OR.

About your surgeon

5. How many times have you personally performed this procedure? Not how many years of experience — how many times have you done this specific procedure. A surgeon with 20 years of orthopaedic experience who rarely performs your specific surgery is not the same as one who does it weekly.

6. What is your complication rate for this procedure? Some surgeons track this carefully and can quote a number. A surgeon who does is a surgeon who's paying attention. The answer matters less than whether they can give one.

7. Will you be performing the entire procedure? At some academic centers, residents or fellows perform parts of procedures. At freestanding ASCs this is uncommon, but it's worth confirming.

About insurance and cost

8. Are you, the surgeon, and the anesthesiologist all in-network with my plan? All three. Separately. The ASC being in-network doesn't guarantee the others are. Anesthesia surprise bills are one of the most common financial shocks after outpatient surgery.

9. Has prior authorization been submitted and approved for this procedure? Ask for the authorization number. Don't assume it's been handled.

10. Can you give me a good-faith estimate of my out-of-pocket costs? Federal law requires most facilities to provide this. The estimate won't be exact, but a reasonable range is better than going in blind.

About your care

11. What type of anesthesia will I receive, and can I discuss this with the anesthesiologist before the day of surgery? Understanding your anesthesia — and having input into it — is part of informed consent. If you've had bad reactions to anesthesia before, that conversation needs to happen before you're already in pre-op.

12. What are the specific activity restrictions after this procedure, and when can I return to normal activities? Get specific answers. 'Take it easy for a few days' is not a plan. Ask: when can I drive, return to work, bear weight, use the affected limb, exercise. Write it down.