After seeing disruptive day-of-surgery cancellations rise over four years, we created a new position in our facility, the clinical nurse liaison, whose job is to improve patient pre-op education and help us get as much information as possible about patients before they arrive at the center for their procedures. The thinking is that the more informed patients are and the more we know about them before they arrive, the less likely they'll cancel on the day of surgery. Since we created the position in 2006, the number of day-of cancellations has fallen 31 percent, from 55 in 2005 to 38 in 2007. In the first quarter of this year, we've had only six cancellations.