By Melissa DeGoede, RN, BSN, MBA, Vice President of Clinical Services
Every patient who walks into an ambulatory surgery center places an incredible amount of trust in their care team.
For many, surgery is an unfamiliar territory. They may be feeling anxious about the procedure, uncertain about what to expect or concerned about their recovery. But behind the scenes, a highly coordinated team is working together to ensure every aspect of their care is safe.
At Regent, patient safety isn’t simply a regulatory requirement or a checklist to complete. It is the foundation of everything we do.
National Time Out Day serves as an important reminder of the practices that help protect patients every day, but it also highlights something bigger: the culture of safety that drives clinical excellence across our centers.
Safety Starts Long Before Surgery
When people think about surgical safety, they often picture what happens inside the operating room. In reality, safety begins well before a patient arrives for their procedure.
One of the most effective ways to improve outcomes is to prepare patients in advance. In the weeks leading up to surgery, our care teams begin educating patients about what they can expect before, during, and after their procedure.
These conversations help patients understand not only the surgical process, but also the many safety protocols they will encounter along the way.
For example, patients are often surprised by how many times they are asked to confirm their name, date of birth, and procedure details. While it may seem repetitive, every verification serves as an additional safeguard.
By preparing patients ahead of time, we help them understand that these processes are intentional and designed to keep them safe.
Safety is not a single event. It is a continuous process that follows patients throughout their entire surgical journey.
What Is a Surgical Time Out — and Why Does It Matter?
One of the most important safety practices in ambulatory surgery is the surgical Time Out—which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a deliberate pause immediately before a procedure begins. During this moment, all activity in the operating room stops so the entire surgical team can focus on confirming critical information.
The surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse, surgical technologist and every other team member involved in the procedure participate.
Together, they verify:
- The patient’s identity
- Date of birth
- Planned procedure
- Surgical site
- Laterality (right or left side)
- Site markings
- Allergies
- Risk Factors
Any other information necessary to ensure the procedure proceeds safely.
National Time Out Day, observed annually by the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), shines a spotlight on this critical safety practice. While the Time Out itself may only take a few minutes, it often serves as the final opportunity for the care team to review key details, resolve discrepancies and ensure everyone is aligned before surgery begins.
This year, Regent is focusing on the theme of Pause with Purpose, which resonates deeply with me because it captures something I see across our centers every day. The Time Out is not a box to check. It is a moment of shared commitment—a deliberate pause that reinforces our responsibility to each patient and to one another.
The power of the Time Out lies in its simplicity. By creating a dedicated moment for communication and verification, surgical teams establish one final layer of protection before a procedure begins.
Why Every Voice Matters in Surgical Safety
One common misconception is that patient safety rests primarily with physicians or nurses—but at Regent, we believe safety is everybody’s responsibility.
Every member of the surgical team brings a unique perspective to patient care. That is why effective Time Outs require participation from every individual involved in the procedure. More importantly, they require a culture where every team member feels empowered to speak up if something doesn’t seem right.
AORN recently highlighted an important reality: safety checks can become routine, and familiarity itself can introduce risk. The Time Out only works when teams remain fully engaged in the process rather than simply completing another task.
The Time Out is also one of the most effective safeguards against preventable wrong-patient, wrong-procedure and wrong-site events. It creates space for questions, clarification and collaboration before care moves forward.
Most importantly, it reinforces who we are as a team. Speaking up during a time out is not a disruption — it is exactly what we expect. Last year’s Culture of Safety survey shows that: 93% of Regent employees feel they can report patient safety mistakes without fear of punishment. That is how we build a culture where patient protection is shared, and every voice matters.
Building a Comprehensive ASC Patient Safety Program
There is no single best practice that guarantees exceptional outcomes. Strong outcomes result from multiple best practices working together throughout the continuum of care.
At Regent, we’ve developed a comprehensive patient safety program that provides centers with the tools, resources, and guidance they need to consistently deliver high-quality care.
This includes:
- Evidence-based policies and procedures
- Standardized clinical protocols
- Ongoing education and training
- Performance monitoring and auditing
- Incident reporting and analysis
- Continuous quality improvement initiatives
Our teams don’t simply implement safety practices and move on. We actively evaluate how those practices are performing and identify opportunities for improvement.
Learning From Every Experience
One of the most important elements of a strong safety culture is the ability to learn.
That includes learning from adverse events, but it also means learning from what we call “great catch” situations, where a team member identifies a potential issue before it reaches the patient.
These moments provide valuable opportunities to strengthen processes and prevent future problems.
Regent maintains a centralized incident management process that allows us to monitor, review and learn from events across our network. Our clinical leadership team reviews reported incidents daily and collaborates with centers to identify trends, share lessons learned, and implement improvements.
When a significant event occurs, we immediately bring together clinical leaders, operations teams and center staff to evaluate what happened and determine how we can prevent similar issues in the future.
Measuring What Matters: ASC Quality and Safety Metrics
Strong safety cultures are supported by strong data. Regent tracks a wide range of quality and patient safety metrics, including:
- Patient falls
- Medication errors
- Surgical site infections
- Wrong-patient, wrong-site and wrong-procedure events
- Patient satisfaction measures
- Safety culture indicators
Among these metrics, prevention of “wrongs” remains one of our highest priorities. Multiple safeguards, including patient verification processes, site markings and surgical time outs, work together to prevent these rare but serious events.
Our commitment to safety is also reflected in how our team members view the organization.
In Regent’s most recent Culture of Safety assessment, the organization scored in the 97th percentile compared to industry peers. That result places Regent among the top-performing ambulatory surgery center networks in the country, reflecting something that cannot be measured through clinical outcomes alone.
Patients Play an Important Role, Too
Patient safety is most effective when patients are active participants in the process.
From pre-operative education through post-operative follow-up, we encourage patients to ask questions, confirm information, and engage in their care. Our patients are involved throughout the verification process, helping to confirm procedure details, surgical sites, and other critical information before surgery begins. This active participation helps strengthen safety and build trust.
Safety Is Our North Star
At Regent, we often talk about redefining surgical care. That mission begins with safety.
Every protocol, every process, and every decision is guided by a commitment to delivering high-quality, safe patient care. It influences how we design programs, train teams, evaluate performance, and support our centers.
Most importantly, it helps us create an environment where patients can feel confident that their well-being is our highest priority.
Our commitment to patient safety isn’t limited to National Time Out Day. It’s part of who we are every day. And every time a care team pauses with purpose before a procedure, they reaffirm the trust our patients place in us and our shared commitment to delivering safe, exceptional care.