Abstract
BACKGROUND: Over the past 30 years, outpatient surgery has developed into an indispensable pillar of patient care in Germany, without its full potential coming to light. QUESTION: What are the reasons for the stagnation of further development of outpatient surgery and its suboptimal status quo? MATERIALS AND METHODS: Presentation and comparison of outpatient surgery numbers from clinics and practices, and a critical analysis of their development. RESULTS: After reaching a maximum number of outpatient operations in practices and clinics in 2015, there has been a location-independent decrease and stagnation due to underfunding of outpatient surgical structures and a shortage of resources. CONCLUSION: Outpatient surgery represents a patient-friendly and cost-effective alternative to inpatient interventions, provided that that medical and social indications rule out an increased risk. The expansion of outpatient surgery has so far provided relieve to the cost-intensive hospital sector and-in view of the shortage of nurses and physicians-will do so to an even greater extent as soon as politicians and payers commit to remuneration that is performance-related and actually covers the costs. Furthermore, the future of the healthcare system also depends on the future of outpatient surgery, which is to be assessed as positive.