Here are five takeaways:
1. The guidelines allow attending surgeons to leave noncritical parts of surgeries to other qualified surgeons, so long as patients are informed of the switch and it does not negatively impact the procedure.
2. The guidelines also discourage surgeons from performing two surgeries in which the key parts of both surgeries overlap in time.
3. Many hospitals already require surgeons to inform patients of concurrent surgeries.
4. Opponents of concurrent surgeries argue a surgery should not be left to a resident or fellow, alone.
5. Double-booked surgeries can prove dangerous to patient safety if a critical need arises with one patient when the attending surgeon is operating on another patient.
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