For more than 20 years, procedures and services historically performed in an inpatient setting - such as total joint replacements and minimally invasive general surgeries like gallbladder removals, hernia repairs, and cardiovascular and spinal surgeries-have shifted to outpatient facilities. Driving this shift has been a combination of the need to drive costs down, new clinical and technological advances in minimally invasive surgical procedures, and evolving anesthesia techniques that have reduced complications and allowed patients to go home the same day.

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