Tam Psenka, M.D. Hours of Operation: 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Monday – Friday. Patients must be signed in by 4:30 p.m. to be seen in the Pre-op Clinic that day. Location: The Pre-op Clinic is located on the first floor of Rutledge Tower across from Elevators A. Registration for the Pre-op/Lab is next to the glass doors which open onto Rutledge Avenue.  Contact Information: The main number is 843-876-0116. Questions regarding the Pre-op Clinic may be directed to Dr. Tam Psenka at 843-876-0119.

 General Information

 Registration

 Inpatient

General Information
Preoperative assessment centers have emerged nationwide over the past 15 years due to an increasing number of outpatient surgeries and same day admissions. In order to identify potential medical or financial complications prior to scheduled surgery, hospitals and anesthesiologists have developed systems for obtaining pertinent information from patients in an outpatient setting. These systems vary widely between hospitals.

The MUSC Pre-op Clinic is a collaborative effort between the MUSC Department of Anesthesiology and hospital administration to ensure the following:

• Patients' medical conditions are optimized prior to surgery
• Patients feel well-prepared for their surgery
• Both the anesthesiologist and surgeon are alerted to any potential complications related to surgery
• Patient charts are complete prior to the morning of surgery

Once the decision for surgery has been made, the patient is sent to the Pre-op Clinic with their completed surgical H&P, consent form and doctor's orders. The Pre-op Clinic provides a centralized location for hospital pre-registration, nursing assessment, anesthesia assessment, patient education and lab work including bloodwork, urine, ECG/EKG or x-ray to be performed prior to the day of surgery. This process takes approximately one hour. Completed O.R. charts are kept in the Pre-op Clinic until the day before surgery when they are taken to the holding room. Please note that if patients would like to schedule their Pre-Op Clinic visit for a more convenient time, appointments are available and can be scheduled by calling 843-876-0116.

Every effort is made to avoid redundancy, but a lot of paperwork must be completed. In the interest of our patients, please remember the following:

• Include vital signs if performed in surgery clinic.
• Include a completed radiology requisition form if any x-ray has been ordered.
• All radiology studies other than x-ray — such as ultrasound, CT and MRI — need to be scheduled through Radiology prior to being sent to the Pre-op Clinic.
• Any lab slips sent to the Pre-op Clinic must be accompanied by a written physician order.
• Include your pager number on written orders.

Routine urine studies can be completed in the Pre-op Clinic. However, we do not have facilities to perform in and out caths. If an in and out cath is necessary, please make arrangements through your clinic.

All consults should be arranged by your clinic prior to sending patients to the Pre-op Clinic.

When patients bring records from outside hospitals, please be sure to include a copy of relevant information in the O.R. chart  (i.e. heart caths, ECHOs, PFTs, X-rays indicating a deviated trachea, etc. Anesthesia is particularly interested in issues related to the airway, heart, and lungs.)

Registration
Patients must check in or register prior to being seen in Pre-op Clinic. Although this step appears redundant since many of these patients have registered for a clinic appointment on the same day, information is verified and more information is collected which is needed for hospital/facility billing and for insurance pre-certification/verification. A financial counselor is also available to patients at this time upon request. In an effort to facilitate this process for our patients, please include a copy of the posting slip if it has not already been electronically posted. If a posting slip is not available, please at least indicate 1.) the name of the procedure, 2.) if the surgery will be done in the main O.R. or ambulatory O.R., and 3.) whether the patient will be a same day admission inpatient, 23 hour observation, or outpatient. Please note that patients who will be admitted prior to the day of surgery are not evaluated in the Pre-op Clinic.

Inpatient
Inpatients or patients who will be admitted prior to their procedure are not evaluated in the Pre-op Clinic.  Once the patient has been admitted, you may contact the Main Desk in the Department of Anesthesiology at 792-2322 to arrange to have the patient evaluated by anesthesia personnel in the hospital.