Here are five anesthesia groups bringing innovative practices and business strategies to the industry:
1. Narragansett Bay Anesthesia, based in Providence, R.I., is rethinking its approach to anesthesia provision by expanding its umbrella of services to include pre- and postoperative care and pain management.
"As anesthesiologists, we do not bring patients to the hospital," Vijay Sudheendra, MD, president of the group, told Becker's. "The patients come in for a procedure and we are engaged. So, by definition, we are a service specialty. As the service specialty, if you are just here to do your work, that is not enough."
One vital element of this approach is leveraging new technologies and developments in anesthesia and pain management. For Dr. Sudheendra and his practice, the use of cryoanalgesia is an important tool in developing more comprehensive pain management.
His practice is currently conducting a study to see whether the use of cryoanalgesia will allow patients to return to full daily living earlier than those who do receive other pain-management treatments.
2. Elevated Practice Solutions, a US Anesthesia Partners subsidiary, debuted a new resource for anesthesia practices and health systems that aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of anesthesia operations. EPS focuses on improving the revenue cycle, clinical productivity and final metrics. It integrates its RCM system with the hospital's EHR and physician practice management systems. EPS aims to aid with hospital credentialing, payer enrollment, anesthesia quality reporting, provider scheduling, quality capture and operating room efficiency dashboards.
3. Oral Surgery Anesthesia Associates in Atlanta, is focusing on new approaches to recruitment that seek to reflect the shifting priorities of the U.S. workforce.
"Our society is not driven by the same sort of level of engagement professionally that it used to be," Stan Plavin, MD, anesthesiologist and owner of OSAA, told Becker's.
To bridge these generational differences, Dr. Plavin emphasized the importance of offering a "value proposition" that encourages providers to excel while feeling satisfied professionally. This could involve implementing revenue guarantee models, profit sharing, ownership opportunities, addressing scheduling inefficiencies and exploring alternative business models.
4. More than 35 independent anesthesiologists comprise Chicago Anesthesia Locums, a subgroup of Midwest Anesthesia Partners. The anesthesiologists formed the group in response to the migration of physicians to employed positions. The model allows physicians to take advantage of market opportunities while remaining independent.
5. Getinge's anesthesia management solutions arm formed a partnership with Meditech's Alliance program. The partnership aims to provide anesthesia teams with advanced tools that streamline workflows, enhance patient safety and improve clinical outcomes.