Anesthesiology: Beyond Just ‘Staffing’

An Ask the Expert feature with Anesthetix Management

The sophisticated delivery of anesthesiology services has evolved from a simple ‘staffing model’ into a full-fledged ‘service and business partner model’ that can contribute to your facility’s product and bottom line, as Steven M. Gottlieb, President and CEO of Anesthetix Management, explains.

“With the right partner anesthesiology can go from being a cost center to being a profit center”
-Steven M. Gottlieb, President & CEO of Anesthetix Management

Anesthesiology services in the hospital environment have come a long way since the first drop of ether fell on a towel back in the 1840s. Successful anesthesiology groups have adopted cutting-edge business and service practices, in addition to the latest innovative medical technologies. Why? Because successful hospital executives currently demand it. 

Beyond historically provided operating room ‘staffing’, a successful anesthesia group today must apply proven business and clinical ‘best practices’ to ensure consistency of quality outcomes, optimal efficiency and improved hospital revenues with reduced costs. This requires today’s anesthesiologist to serve as a team member (and leader) intimately involved in the coordination of patient care, beginning with the patient pre-assessment process and continuing through patient discharge. Hence, the evolution of the term ‘perioperative physician’. But even more than a ‘perioperative physician’, a successful anesthesiologist today must serve as a hospital’s ‘perioperative partner’.

Perioperative partner
As a perioperative partner, today’s anesthesiologist has a responsibility to establish and support proper and timely pre-assessment of the surgical patient. The goal of the pre-assessment process should be to ‘properly prepare patients for surgery’ in advance of surgery, to avoid surgical case delays and case cancellations – not to obstruct or delay patients from proceeding to surgery.

The pre-assessment process needs to be regularly updated to include the latest peer-reviewed standards, and needs to be consistent among all anesthesia providers within a group.

Timely surgical case starts, rapid surgical case turnover, and optimal OR schedule management can be enhanced and assured by today’s anesthesiologist. Being accountable and working cooperatively to support and/or lead the team of perioperative providers is essential to achieve this critical goal. These activities not only promote operating suite throughput and surgical case volume, but also often reduce nursing overtime costs and improve nursing job satisfaction (as well as patient and surgeon satisfaction). Further, proper anesthetic technique can assure optimal patient postoperative comfort, as well as a shorter recovery period and shorter hospital stay. Not only does this impact a facility’s bottom line directly, but also indirectly via the impact of improved patient and surgeon satisfaction.

Today’s anesthesiologist needs to actively participate in promoting not only the hospital’s surgical services, but also its labor and delivery services. A timely and effective labor epidural program not only grows a labor and delivery service, but enhances a hospital’s reputation and the use of all hospital services – especially since it tends to be the ‘thrilled mom’ who is ultimately making the healthcare decisions for her entire family.

With involvement in the satisfaction of your customers, in the time and cost-efficient management of your staff and resources, and in the development of greater service volumes and new service lines, today’s anesthesiology group has completed its evolution from a mere provider of ‘staffing’ into an invaluable ‘perioperative partner’.

A higher standard
Today, as a hospital executive, you can and should expect more from your anesthesia department. At a minimum, you can anticipate that they will provide the safest anesthesia care possible for your shared patients. You can also expect their attention to your bottom line. This includes: their active interest and participation in the satisfaction of your customers – both surgeons and patients; preoperative assessment plans that work to prevent surgical case delays and cancellations; anesthetic strategies (e.g., postoperative pain management) to improve patient comfort and recovery, decrease complication rates, and reduce hospital lengths of stay; active participation in OR schedule management to promote better OR throughput and the efficient utilization of facility resources; the addition of new service lines (e.g., pain procedures, open heart, bariatrics, diagnostic services), as well as the growth of existing service lines to promote greater patient volumes.

Today, with the right ‘perioperative partner’, you can expect leadership and accountability, service administration, quality management, improved customer satisfaction rates, and, yes, profitability, from your anesthesia department.

Steven M. Gottlieb, MD is President & CEO of Anesthetix Management, LLC. Dr Gottlieb co-founded Anesthetix with the vision of delivering quality anesthesia services in a customer-focused manner that improves the business operations of its hospital and ASC partners nationwide.

Contact details:
Steven M. Gottlieb, MD
President and CEO
T: 877-799-3552
E: smg@anesthetix.com
www.anesthetix.com