[Outpatient surgery in hospital. An instrument for resource optimization?].

The societies of western countries are facing enormous economic and social challenges. Despite a declining population size the number of elderly patients is growing and will lead to an increase in cases of trauma in the near future. In addition, the health care system will have to be financed by a reduced labor force. To realize the ambitious political goal of providing comprehensive medical care an economization of hospital treatment must be achieved. The bottleneck within the surgical specialties in case of efficient scheduling will be the capacity utilization of the operating theatres. Additional separate outpatient operating theatres adjacent to hospitals could be an efficient instrument for using resources and economizing medical procedures. Considering the socio-demographic alterations of our society an adequate discussion regarding the general medical conditions is essential.