This morning, as I wrote this some time ago, a patient came to my office for a colonoscopy. I sent her packing. Here’s what happened. In our Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), in my prior private practice, we introduce light into dark spaces every day. This is where we perform colonoscopies and upper endoscopies. We have a program in place where referring physicians can have their patients contact our ASC and schedule a procedure without seeing us first in the office for a consultation. Obviously, we have to have a vigorous screening process in place We do not want to meet a person for the first time for a colonoscopy and discover that he has complicated medical issues and is dragging an oxygen tank behind him. Our screening system works extremely well, but it is not perfect. On occasion, it misfires The patient arrived at our office at 7:00 a.m. after a 45 minute drive. She had ingested the required purge, often the highlight of the experience. I hadn’t seen her for
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