Anesthesia provider shortages and declining anesthesia reimbursements are two of the biggest issues ASC leaders are facing.
Here are five recent moves in the anesthesia industry:
1. Surgeries at two hospitals owned by Renton, Wash.-based Providence were down by almost 50% in December and January from an anesthesiologist shortage. The delay comes after the hospitals' anesthesia staffing was taken over by a private equity-backed physician staffing firm Sound Physicians, which did not have enough staffers to handle the volume of the two Portland, Ore.-based hospitals.
"Part of the reason we chose to make this switch is the need to provide consistent anesthesia coverage for our patients and surgeons. Our previous agreement with Oregon Anesthesia Group created a situation in which patients had to wait for services while we prioritized cases based on availability of anesthesia services. When we terminated the previous contract, there were fewer than 54 providers available to serve Providence St. Vincent and Providence Portland medical centers," a spokesperson for Providence told Becker's in an email. "It's important to keep in mind that we made this decision because of concerns raised by our physicians about anesthesia availability. Patients were already waiting for services before we decided to contract with a new provider."
2. Billings (Mont.) Clinic's contract with longtime anesthesia partner Billings Anesthesiology expired Feb. 9. After contracting with Billings Anesthesiology for several decades, the hospital decided to form its own anesthesia department.
3. The part-time and full-time anesthesiologists at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai's Beverly Anesthesiology unionized. Of the 139 employees eligible to vote on the union, 103 voted, with 78 in favor of unionizing.
4. A group of anesthesiologists from San Antonio launched Inspire Anesthesia Partners. The anesthesiologists were previously aligned under the Tejas brand and are now working with Independent Physicians Network, a physician-led organization.
5. U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and Dave Joyce of Ohio introduced a bipartisan resolution to recognize certified registered nurse anesthetists for the role they play in providing quality healthcare. The resolution highlights the role CRNAs play in rural healthcare, particularly when they are the only anesthesia providers at a facility.