Percutaneous coronary procedures (PCPs) have evolved rapidly over the last decades with radial access, 3rd generation drug-eluting stents and highly effective antiplatelet therapy as the interventional standard. Therefore, treating PCP patients as outpatients with discharge on the day of procedure (SDD) has become feasible, reducing treatment costs, saving in-house resources and satisfying a clear patient preference towards early discharge. With adequate patient selection, SDD treatment strategies have shown an excellent safety profile across randomized trials and large registries, spanning decades of interventional cardiology practice. However, similar to other European Countries, SDD programs are being implemented rather cautiously, mostly due to safety concerns.

For interventionalists, for hospital staff and for patients providing interventional procedures on an outpatient basis is nothing short of a revolution with many questions regarding the best way of implementation still unanswered. With the two publications contained in this supplement, an in-depth meta-analysis and a consensus statement, the Working Group of Interventional Cardiology (AGIK) of the Austrian Society of Cardiology seeks to support the implementation of SDD programs—by providing a solid foundation with an up-to-date summary of SDD safety data in a wide range of clinical settings, and a review of all currently available international guidelines as a basis for their own recommendations. The AGIK shares a consensus framework for the safe and efficient implementation of outpatient clinics within cardiology departments, including detailed checklists and practice instructions.