Quality and resource utilization in managing preoperative evaluation.

The evaluation of patients before surgery is a component of anesthesia practice that must be performed to ensure the safe delivery of anesthesia for every patient. How an anesthesia group performs this evaluation differs from institution to institution as the structure of preoperative clinics in hospitals across the country can be quite variable. However, the major question that anesthesiologists must ask when approaching this area of practice is: "Can a system for preoperative evaluation that uses the expertise of anesthesiologists,surgeons, and internists to deliver high quality, cost conscious, and efficient patient preparation for surgery be developed.