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Your Surgical Experience

We want to make your experience as smooth and as seamless as possible. Please follow these steps prior to your surgery, to ensure our team can provide you with a great surgical experience and prevent any delays or cancellations.

PREPARING FOR YOUR SURGERY

Patient Registration:

To expedite the check-in process, please submit your patient registration forms prior to your surgery date. Pre-registration is designed to be quick and easy to complete. It is helpful to have your health information and insurance handy while filing out your forms.

Contact your surgeon/physician immediately, if any of these conditions apply to you:

  • You experience any changes in your health from your most recent visit to your physician to the day of your procedure – even minor ones like a temperature, cough or a cold.
  • You suspect that you are pregnant. Anesthesia and medication may be harmful to the developing fetus.
  • You take medications or vitamins on a regular basis, such as herbal supplements, diet pills, aspirin, ibuprofen, blood thinners, or other medications. There may be certain medications you should or should not take prior to your surgery.

Make Arrangements:

  • Have a responsible adult accompany you to the center and drive you home; you will not be allowed to drive yourself home after surgery.
  • Plan for someone, such as a friend, relative or dedicated caregiver, to stay with you for the first 24 hours following your procedure.
  • Make accommodations for childcare if you have young children at home you normally care for.
  • Limit the number of people who accompany you to the center.

*Please note an interpreter must be present, if the patient cannot read or speak English.

Food and Drink: 

  • DO NOT consume any alcoholic beverages 24 hours before your surgery.
  • DO NOT drink or eat anything (including water, gum, mints, or candy) after midnight the night before your surgery, unless otherwise instructed. Undigested food in the stomach can cause complications and your surgery is likely to be postponed or cancelled.

DAY OF YOUR SURGERY

Please follow these important guidelines and check-in at your scheduled arrival time on the day of your surgery.

Morning of surgery:

  • Shower with an antibacterial soap, such as Dial or Lever body wash, and brush your teeth prior to your arrival. Please remember to not swallow any water after brushing.
  • Remove all makeup, jewelry, body piercings and corrective lenses. If you must wear contacts or glasses, please bring your storage case for use during surgery.
  • Wear loose, comfortable clothing that can accommodate a bandage, cast, or other type of dressing where the procedure is being performed.

What to bring the day of surgery:

  • Bring your insurance cards and government issued photo ID (such as a driver’s license, state ID, or passport). It is important for us to have your most current and correct information.
  • Bring a form of payment, if applicable.
  • Have a responsible adult accompany you to the center and drive you home; you will not be allowed to drive yourself home after surgery. (Please note a legal guardian must be in the center at all times for children and dependent adults).
  • Bring comfortable clothing for your post-surgery ride home. Stretchable clothing such as loose button up shirts, large leg bottoms, and slip-on shoes tend to be to be the most comfortable and convenient to wear after surgery.
  • Leave all jewelry, cash and valuables at home.

*Please note an interpreter must be present, if the patient cannot read or speak English.

AFTER YOUR SURGERY

After your surgery, you will be taken to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU Recovery Unit) where specialty trained nurses will monitor you closely until you are ready to go home. The amount of time you stay in the recovery room will vary, depending on the procedure performed and physician’s instructions, but most patients will typically spend one hour recovering.

You will receive verbal and written post-operative care instructions regarding diet, rest, exercise, and medications before discharge. Please make sure a responsible family member or friend is available to drive you home, where you should plan to rest for the remainder of the day.

If anesthesia and/or pain medications were administered, arrange for an adult to remain with you for at least 24 hours. The following precautions should also be taken after discharge:

  • Do not drive or operate heavy machinery
  • Do not make any major or legal decisions
  • Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages for at least 24 hours

Contact your physician for follow-up appointments, as needed, and for any questions or unexpected problems. If there is a medical emergency, dial 911 immediately.

Patient Rights & Responsibility

Memorial Ambulatory Surgery Center is dedicated to providing the best healthcare services possible. To help accomplish this mission, Memorial Ambulatory Surgery Center believes that all patients should know their rights and responsibilities.

Patient Rights:

Each patient treated at the MEMORIAL AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER has the right to:

  1. Be treated with respect, consideration, and dignity.
  2. Be afforded appropriate personal privacy
  3. Be given verbal and written notice of rights and responsibilities in a language and manner that ensures the patient, the representative or surrogate understands.
  4. Receive full information in layman’s terms concerning appropriate and timely diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, prognosis and preventive measures; if it is not medically advisable to provide this information to the patient, the information shall be given to the responsible person on his/her behalf.
  5. To participate in decisions involving their health care, except when such participation is contraindicated for medical reasons.
  6. Receive information on the services, fees and payment policies of the center.
  7. Receive information on after-hour and emergency care.
  8. Obtain information on the center’s policy on patients’ advanced directives.
  9. Be provided information on the credentials of the health care professionals at the center.
  10. Receive information regarding the absence of malpractice insurance, if applicable.
  11. Voice or file complaints or grievances regarding treatment or care that is (or fails to be) furnished.
  12. Change primary or specialty physicians or dentists if other qualified physicians or dentists are available.
  13. Receive an informed consent for the procedure and administration of any anesthetic.
  14. Be given the name of their attending physician, the names of all other physicians directly assisting in their care, and the names and functions of other health care persons having direct contact with the patient.
  15. Be given, in writing if requested, a list of physicians who have financial interest or ownership in the center.
  16. Be free from any act of discrimination or reprisal and to be free from all forms of abuse or harassment.
  17. Be provided medical and nursing services without discrimination based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status or source of payment, nor shall any such care be denied on account of the patient’s sexual orientation.
  18. Receive care in a safe setting by competent and appropriately qualified personnel.
  19. Have records pertaining to their medical care treated as confidential.
  20. Expect emergency procedures to be implemented without necessary delay.
  21. The expedient and professional transfer to another facility when medically necessary and to have the responsible person and the facility that the patient is transferred to notified prior to transfer.
  22. Be provided with, upon written request, access to all information contained in their medical record.
  23. Refuse drugs or procedures and have a physician explain the medical consequences of the drugs or procedures.
  24. Be advised of participation in a medical care research program or donor program; the patient shall give consent prior to participation in such a program; a patient may also refuse to continue in a program that has previously given informed consent to participate in.
  25. Receive appropriate and timely follow-up information of abnormal findings and tests.
  26. Receive appropriate and timely referrals and consultation.
  27. Receive information regarding “continuity of care”.
  28. Expect the absence of clinically unnecessary diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.

While the management of this center understands the importance of patients’ wishes pertaining to Advanced Directives, including Do Not Resuscitate, Living Wills and Medical Power of Attorney. Due to the nature of services and types of patients admitted to the center, physicians will use all measures possible to sustain life. Patients will be transferred to the nearest hospital in the event of an emergency.

Patient Responsibilities:

Each patient treated at the MEMORIAL AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER has the responsibility to:

  1. Provide a complete and accurate medical and surgical health history including hospitalizations, previous procedures, past illnesses, medications, over-the counter products, dietary supplements, and any allergies or sensitivities.
  2. Follow the treatment plan established by the physician, including instructions of nurses and other health care professionals as they carry out the physician’s orders.
  3. Arrange for a responsible adult to drive you home and stay with you for 24 hours after surgery (as may be required by your physician).
  4. Fulfill financial responsibility, for all services received, as determined by the patient’s insurance carrier.
  5. Provide the surgery center with all information regarding third-party insurance coverage.
  6. Behave respectfully toward all health care professionals, as well as other patients.
  7. Keep your appointment, arrive timely, and notify the facility if you are unable to do so.
  8. Read and understand all the consents you sign. Please ask questions for clarification before signing the consent.
  9. Provide the appropriate identification and demographics.
  10. Let us know if you don’t understand any part of your treatment. Ask questions and take part in your healthcare decisions.
  11. Let us know when you are having pain or when your pain is not being managed.
  12. Respect the Center’s property and equipment.
  13. Be considerate and respectful of other patients, visitors, personnel, and property of the center.
  14. Be responsible for having an adult person (18 or older) for transportation after surgery; this is required if anesthesia or any pain medication was administered during your day.
  15. The patient and his/her family are responsible for complying with policies and procedures designed to protect the health and safety of others.
  16. The patient needs to advise his/her doctor or healthcare professional of any dissatisfaction the patient may have with his/her care or services.
  17. The patient is responsible for meeting financial obligations as agreed to pay for treatment.

 

DISCLOSURE OF OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN MEMORIAL AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER

Memorial Ambulatory Surgery Center is an ambulatory surgical center in which physicians have an ownership interest. The Center is committed to providing clinical excellence in a safe, comfortable, welcome environment for you and your family members. Many of the physicians who practice here have chosen to have an ownership in the Center. This investment gives the physicians the ability to retain quality control and to ensure that your medical costs are reasonable, and to provide the highest quality care. Your physician’s ownership interest in the Center does mean that your physician may benefit from choosing to perform your surgical procedure at this facility rather than in a hospital or in another similar facility. We are therefore advising you through this document that you have the right to be treated at another facility. If you elect to have your procedure performed elsewhere, your physician will make alternative arrangements at your direction.

Ownership Disclosure:

Patrick Hsu, M.D. 

Kendall Roehl, M.D. 

Cara Downey, M.D. 

Thu-Ha Liz Lee, M.D. 

Tang Ho, M.D. 

Buckminster Farrow, M.D. 

Jay Lance LaFleur, M.D. 

Suzanne Manzi, M.D. 

Mathias Wiederholz, M.D.

If you have a comment or concern regarding the services you received at Memorial Ambulatory Surgery Center, please contact:

Memorial Ambulatory Surgery Center’s Administrator at 713-929-3323

Texas State Department of Health

https://www.hhs.texas.gov/

Complaint Intake

Mail Code E-249

PO Box 149030

Austin Texas 78714

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care

844-853-6060

[email protected]

5200 Old Orchard Rd., Skokie, IL 60077

The Medicare (CMS) Ombudsman:

877-787-8999

https://www.cms.gov/center/special-topic/ombudsman/medicare-beneficiary-ombudsman-home