Central Maine Orthopaedics offers a full-service Orthopaedic Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), a single-specialty center where relatively healthy patients can have minor outpatient surgeries not requiring overnight stay. ASC surgeries are administered in a less intimidating environment than a larger medical facility, while still housing the skilled and professional physicians and state-of-the-art equipment you'll find in major metropolitan areas.

At CMO, physicians have the opportunity to work in a tightly coordinated practice in which a patient's care is observed from the initial appointment to the recovery, which is the defining characteristic of an ASC.

If outpatient surgery is necessary, the process begins at the perioperative unit, where a nurse will sit with them to review medical history, medications and other medical issues before determining risk and coordinating the approval process for surgery. If lab work or an electrocardiogram is necessary, they can be conveniently done onsite at the St. Mary's Minot Avenue Lab. At this point, all surgery-related information and decisions on anesthesia will be made.

At CMO, ASC physicians administering orthopaedic surgery are specialized in their field.

• Surgery Center staff will call patients before surgery to remind them of any pre-surgery instructions and give them an arrival time, as well as call the patients after the surgery for follow-up questions or concerns.
• Doctors and staff are always familiar with the process, scheduling surgeries five days a week between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• The average wait time for a patient's guests during surgery is one to three hours. With CMO's comfortable setting, someone can sit in during the pre-operative care for a more friendly/less intimidating environment for the patient.
• CMO's facility was built with the intent of allowing natural light to shine through for a comfortable, natural experience to help patients with the healing process. The average recovery time is one hour.
• Ambulatory anesthesia is tailored to meet the needs of ambulatory surgery so that patients can go home soon after their operations. Short-acting anesthetic drugs and specialized anesthetic techniques, as well as care specifically focused on the needs of the ambulatory patient, are used to make your experience safe and pleasant.

CMO is still plugged into hospital programs at Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary's Hospital for more complex surgeries requiring in-patient care.

Due to advances in medical technology and pain management, surgical procedures once requiring hospital inpatient care now can be performed on an outpatient basis, with the patient returning home in a matter of hours. Personalized, cost-efficient and less stressful than larger healthcare institutions, ASCs emphasize the importance of patient/doctor relationships.

ASCs have become an important and permanent component of today's healthcare system. Nationwide, roughly 8 million surgeries are performed at nearly 3,000 ASCs annually. And, patient satisfaction has become a trademark of the ASC industry. Governmental research has shown that 90 percent of patients surveyed were satisfied with their ASC experience. As part of its commitment to the community, CMO has established the only licensed independent surgical center in the Lewiston/Auburn area.