From a hip and knee replacement specialist performing his own adductor canal blocks to a $1 million settlement against General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership, here are five essential anesthesia updates for ASC leaders to know:
1. Robert Jamieson, MD, a hip and knee replacement specialist at Roseville, Calif.-based Orthopedic Specialty Center of Northern California, started doing his own adductor canal blocks.
2. The prices health insurers and patients had to pay for anesthesiology rose by 16.5 percent when ASCs contracted with corporate physician management companies and went up to 26 percent when the firm was backed by private equity.
3. The Utah Legislature has advanced a bill that would create a license for anesthesiologist assistants, allowing them to work in the state.
4. Relatives of late actor Bill Paxton reached a $1 million settlement against General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership in Los Angeles after the group denied responsibility for the actor's death after heart surgery in 2017.
5. Physician Partners of America has expanded its anesthesia operations with Red Reef Anesthesia Co. in Tampa, Fla.