Anesthesia Service Assessment

Securing adequate anesthesia coverage in the evolving healthcare landscape is increasingly challenging for both groups and facilities. Existing contractual terms and support of provider compensation packages are rapidly falling behind the market. With extensive anesthesia experience, EHC is ideally positioned to support the analysis of current market conditions backed by local, regional, and national data. Our team assesses baseline coverage models, subsidy support structures, and performance metrics to establish a framework for identifying areas of improvement. Our anesthesiologist-led teams incorporate feedback from surgeons, proceduralists, OR leaders, and anesthesia providers to gain insight and perspective on facility-specific challenges and opportunities.

Anesthesia provider shortages have many anesthesia groups, hospitals, and health systems struggling to maintain adequate coverage for their operating rooms. This results in a critical focus on how to develop compensation packages that will attract and retain providers. While the dollar value of provider compensation is vitally important, to properly compare what is “fair,” other factors must also be considered. Such factors include other local compensation packages, average weekly work hours, subspecialty care expertise, vacation time, and call frequency. With our internal database and exposure to a broad cross-section of groups across the country, our team is ideally positioned to advise on reasonable provider packages and incentives to attract, retain, and motivate providers.

Anesthesia subsidies have been rising exponentially across the United States due to reduced productivity, provider shortages, escalating cost of labor, reimbursement pressure, and the proliferation of anesthetizing locations. To secure stable anesthesia services, hospitals and anesthesia groups must work together to support market-based compensation while balancing efficiency, cost, and capacity. EHC has extensive expertise creating optimized anesthesia models, advising on subsidy design, and supporting contract negotiations.

Many hospitals and health systems understand that anesthesia providers play a vital role in operating room efficiency but are unfamiliar with mechanisms to improve or measure performance. At EHC, we believe that maximizing alignment between anesthesia providers and facilities is achieved by ensuring that important processes are standardized and optimized. EHC utilizes internal and external benchmarks to assess anesthesia provider utilization as well as OR efficiency metrics which are directly impacted by the consistency of anesthesia protocols. As indicated, consultants may directly observe anesthesia processes in the operating room and during pre/postoperative care. This approach allows identification of opportunities for alignment throughout the “OR Continuum,” creating a better partnership between anesthesia providers, surgeons, proceduralists, and facilities.

Anesthesia groups, hospitals, and health systems are frequently challenged in developing meaningful, measurable, and targeted anesthesia performance metrics. While some national data is available, it is often difficult to interpret and apply in a truly comparative fashion to local anesthesia services. EHC has proprietary databases that look at efficiency, cost, and performance measures using standard methodologies. Along with our expert interpretation of applicable national survey information, EHC’s anesthesia assessments are designed to be informed and supported by data. This creates a valuable pillar of support for our financial and operational recommendations.

When anesthesia clinical quality becomes a concern, it represents an urgent issue for group and facility stakeholders as they expect anesthesia providers to be aligned partners in maximizing patient safety OR efficiency. EHC has the clinical understanding and organizational experience to evaluate and address these issues. Our team will assess specific patient concerns based on detailed case reviews and if necessary, recommend quality databases for ongoing proactive tracking and benchmarking. Using both internal and external databases, we can document anesthesia efficiency and identify opportunities for improvement.

Understanding how key stakeholders perceive anesthesia services is vital for facilities and provider groups However, finding a tool that measures satisfaction with a set of anesthesia-specific questions offering direct benchmarking to peer groups is difficult. EHC’s surveys provide this capability for our clients. Our proprietary surveys assess key anesthesia deliverables throughout the OR continuum and aspects of customer service. Reports allow tracking of your provider’s performance over time and benchmarking against peers. EHC surveys are an ideal tool to monitor anesthesia performance and proactively identify areas of potential improvement.

Anesthesia assessments conclude with a final report to leadership designed to describe the current performance and identify actionable options for improvement. Since each engagement is customized to meet client needs, every final report uniquely addresses client-specific findings. Final reports include utilization analysis with benchmarking, staffing options with financial crosswalks, contract structure and performance metrics recommendations, and satisfaction survey summaries. Based on the findings, our team will outline key opportunities for improvement and prioritize the next steps.

Many groups and facilities require the implementation of prioritized recommendations from the initial assessment. These requirements are unique to each situation, and anesthesia subject matter expertise is necessary to maximize results. EHC’s services may include but are not limited to: staffing model redesign, RFP management and response, transition to facility employment, contract negotiation, anesthesia revenue cycle review, development of anesthesia performance metrics, and management of ongoing satisfaction surveys.