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The Journal

Considered writing on the work we do.

The Journal is where we take time to write carefully about topics that matter to our patients and to our craft — anesthesia, technique, perioperative safety, the affiliated model, and the choices behind the standard. Written by the people who do this work. Not marketing.

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Featured · The NCSS Standard

What makes NCSS special.

'What makes you special' is a question every practice's marketing eventually answers. Ours mostly hasn't. Here it is: not one thing, mostly not new, and not more expensive — it's the combination we kept, and the small stuff we sweat.

H. Rand Scott, MD · Medical Director · December 2026 · 8 min read

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More from the Journal

Also worth your time.

Recent pieces on how we operate and how we think about the work.

The NCSS Standard

The Rest-Assure Standard: what physician anesthesia means.

Most surgery centers deliver anesthesia through nurse anesthetists. We chose not to. The difference — and why it mattered enough for us to build the whole facility around it.

H. Rand Scott, MD · September 2026 · 6 min read

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Care & Technique

On smoking and surgery: an honest position.

Every surgeon at NCSS handles smoking status differently. The range of positions is itself the point — and why we don't offer a single site-wide policy that pretends the question is simple.

H. Rand Scott, MD · October 2026 · 7 min read

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Privacy & Practice

Why NCSS does not use a patient portal.

Patient portals became standard equipment in the 2010s. NCSS chose not to adopt one — for reasons of privacy, attack surface, and appropriate scale for a small surgical facility.

H. Rand Scott, MD · November 2026 · 7 min read

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In the Queue

What's coming.

The Journal publishes when we have something worth saying, not on a marketing calendar. What's currently being written or considered:

Planned · The Affiliated Model

Nine independent surgeons, one operating standard.

What it means to be an affiliated-surgeon facility — and why our roster of nine surgeons choose to bring their patients here rather than to hospitals or other outpatient centers.

Planned · Technique History

The California Breast Lift®: a technique history.

How a registered technique developed at NCSS in the 2000s changed the way vertical mastopexy is done — and what it took to get there.

Where to Begin

The right starting point is a conversation.

Every scheduled surgical patient is offered a free Rest-Assure pre-operative consultation with Dr. Rand Scott personally — medical history, medication planning, and discharge coordination before the day of surgery.

(949) 644-8182

Monday–Thursday, 8am–3pm · Friday by appointment only.

Elsewhere on This Site

Elsewhere on this site.

The Rest-Assure Program

Rest-Assure perioperative care.

The perioperative care standard that defines NCSS — and the subject of the first Journal article.

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About NCSS

The facility and the model.

The facility, the physician-owned model, and the operational standards that support the affiliated roster.

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Our Surgeons

Nine affiliated surgeons.

The nine affiliated surgeons who bring their patients to NCSS.

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