Remote Preoperative Assessment Clinics and Surgical Readiness Outcomes

Abstract

Remote preoperative assessment clinics have moved from a pandemic-era accommodation to a standing feature of perioperative care delivery, prompting closer scrutiny of whether telehealth pre-anesthesia evaluation matches in-person assessment on the outcomes that define surgical readiness. This review synthesizes comparative evidence from randomized pilot trials, retrospective cohorts, and systematic reviews spanning pediatric, oncologic, cardiac, and ambulatory surgical populations. Across this literature, day-of-surgery cancellation rates, perioperative complications, and patient satisfaction with telehealth pathways have generally tracked in-person benchmarks, while appointment adherence and access have improved for patients facing travel or scheduling barriers. These favorable findings are conditional on triage: successful programs route lower-acuity, ambulatory candidates to fully remote pathways while maintaining explicit criteria and rapid escalation routes for patients with anticipated airway, cardiac, or procedural complexity. We conclude that remote preoperative clinics are a credible complement to in-person assessment for appropriately selected patients, while durable cost data and adequately powered trials for rare serious complications remain open needs.