Limiting factors for development of ambulatory breast surgery in the French hospital network

SummaryIntroductionAmbulatory breast surgery is not well developed in France. This is especially true for oncologic procedures,Materials and methodsBetween January 2005 and June 2006, we performed a retrospective evaluation of the factors thought to limit the development of this type of hospitalization.ResultsThe principal limiting factors were distance restrictions (respect of the 100 km perimeter), the complexity of patient management for small breast tumors (several practitioners involved) and last, the non-motivating reimbursement policy.ConclusionBy changing to the Anglo-American (“one day surgery”, i.e. hospital stay less than 24 hours) or hybrid system (less than 12 hours + 1 day surgery), ambulatory surgery could easily be offered to patients excluded by the current system (ambulatory department open less than 12 hours).