Development of a Nurse Practitioner‒Managed Preoperative Evaluation Clinic Within a Multispecialty Orthopedic Practice

• A NP-led preoperative clinic was established in an orthopedic practice.
• Surgical cancellation rates and missed charges were examined.
• NP-led preoperative clinic data was compared with primary care providers.
• The NP-led clinic reduced surgical cancellations and missed charges.
• The NP-led clinic improved preoperative care coordination.

A nurse practitioner‒managed preoperative evaluation clinic was developed within a large orthopedic practice. For 3 months, a nurse practitioner provided comprehensive preoperative medical care. Surgical cancellations and lost revenue were compared with the previous year. Data analysis revealed that cancellations attributed to the clinic were lower when compared with primary care providers, 0.8% (n = 112) versus 7.7% (n = 450), respectively. Lost revenue from 36 surgical cancellations during the study was $184,480, whereas lost revenue in the previous year from 77 surgical cancellations was $386,033. The relationship between the preoperative care provider and surgical cancellation rates was statistically significant, χ2 (1, N = 571) = 7.15, P = 0.007.