Assessing Your Need

Your need for surgery is based on:

	your condition/situation; and,
	the "urgency" of the procedure you require.

(For example, cancer procedures are always high urgency while routine tonsillectomies are considered less urgent.)

Historically patients have been identified as “Emergent”, “Urgent” or “Elective”. However, there was inconsistency among surgeons and Health Regions regarding the interpretation and use of these terms.

Saskatchewan has implemented a standardized system of assessing your need for surgery that will increase consistency and fairness for all.

Reliability and Validity Reports

The aim of the Saskatchewan Surgical Care Network (SSCN) is to ensure that patients who are waiting for surgery in Saskatchewan receive the care they need within clinically appropriate time frames and in a fair and equitable manner. One of the initiatives developed by the SSCN was the establishment of a patient assessment process to assist surgeons in objectively measuring a patient's need for surgery. The authors of the Reliability and Validity Reports analyzed the Patient Assessment Questionnaires to determine their reliability and validity as tools to increase consistency and objectivity in the patient assessment process. The research provides important evidence in support of the innovative system of assessing and classifying surgical patients based on need.

The Reliability and Validity Reports are now available on the web site under the Reading Room.

Comparison of Traditional and New Patient Assessment Systems

Traditional Patient Classification Terms	Approximate Time Frame	New Patient Classification Terms
Emergent	Within 24 hours	Managed Separately
Urgent	Within 3-6 weeks	Priority Level I Priority Level II
Elective	More than 6 weeks	Priority Level III Priority Level IV

Traditional Method of Assessing Patients

Historically, in assessing patients, a surgeon asks you a number of questions, discusses your specific situation and reviews the results of any tests to determine your need for the surgery. In knowing the procedure required, the surgeon then classifies you as “emergent”, “urgent” and “elective” and indicates that to the Health Region as you are placed on a wait list for surgery.

Most elective surgeries are necessary, not optional.

New Patient Assessment Process

Surgeons across Saskatchewan have begun to use a new, standardized, two step process of assessing and classifying patients’ need for surgery:

Patient Assessment Questionnaires
+
Urgency Profiles for Surgical Procedures
=
Your Priority Level classification

(Priority Levels I through IV redefine the terms urgent and elective.)

Step 1
Surgeons will discuss your situation and review any test results. Also, they fill out new patient questionnaires with standard sets of questions that help to determine the urgency of your condition/situation. These questionnaires produce an “assessment score”.

Step 2
The new Patient Assessment Process also takes into account the “urgency” of your procedure.

Your assessment score combined with the urgency profile of your procedure gives you a final urgency score that places you into one of four priority levels:

Click here for an example of how Priority Levels are calculated.

Each of these Priority Levels have associated Target Time Frames.

The Surgical Care Coordinator/ Regional Contact in the Region where you will be having your surgery will be able to provide you with your assessed Priority Level.