Conclusions
Our findings indicate that patients appreciated the effects of interventions to reduce cancellations, because they increased their autonomy by enabling choices that fitted with their particular circumstances. The interventions also had unanticipated consequences; the telephone reminder created a personalized dialogue prior to surgery and centralization of surgical preparation and discharge processes contributed to continuity of care. Thus apart from improving surgical logistics, the interventions to reduce cancellations contributed to increased patient-centeredness of the care.