Clinical Sections

Perioperative and Adult Anesthesia

Preadmission Testing Center

Cost-effective preoperative testing has become a major objective in this era of managed medical care. At the Preadmission Center, the anesthesiologist has the opportunity to review what testing is necessary for individual patients. The Department has endorsed protocols that provide guidelines for testing and is engaged in collaborative efforts with Diagnostic Imaging and Laboratory Medicine to enable the preadmission testing program to further reduce the costs of unnecessary preoperative testing.

The Preadmission Testing Center has become an important component of our residency program. CA-1 Anesthesia residents typically spend two to four weeks in the Center. During this rotation, they learn guidelines for preoperative assessments and gain an opportunity to improve their interviewing skills. They receive a suggested reading list and are given access to a library of primary references and relevant Anesthesiology, Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacology texts. Residents are encouraged to communicate with referring surgeons and patients' primary care physicians so that they can more fully participate in the preoperative care of patients.