With a significant anesthesia provider shortage and rapidly increasing demand for covered locations, the cost of securing anesthesia coverage has skyrocketed in recent years. As hospital (and increasingly ASC) leaders have seen across the country, renegotiations with existing providers or searching for new coverage options are both fraught with pitfalls. We have seen subsidy costs increase as much as 4,000% in a 2024 contract renewal and facilities pay exorbitant transition costs while attempting to secure coverage through hospital employment or from a new outsourced group.
The vast majority of facility leaders are not anesthesia experts. In the face of the daunting backdrop described above, many are consulting anesthesia experts to advise them through anesthesia challenges. But how should the ideal anesthesia consulting company be chosen? What attributes should you seek out in your decision-making process? This article will identify several key attributes, developed from the decades of anesthesia consulting experience of market leader Enhance Healthcare.
KEY ATTRIBUTES OF AN ANESTHESIA CONSULTING COMPANY:
- Can the consultant credibly speak to the clinical component of negotiations?
- Do they understand the anesthesia market locally and nationally?
- Are they experienced with different coverage options to explore for your facility?
- Can the consultant identify opportunities to improve anesthesia revenue cycle performance?
- Does the consultant have the ability to analyze data to identify opportunities for efficiency?
- Are they able to support your chosen anesthesia solution during implementation?
Can the consultant credibly speak to the clinical component of negotiations?
Much of the complexity of anesthesia negotiations can revolve around clinical requirements translated into coverage details. What are your subspecialty needs and how does that translate into provider FTEs in areas such as cardiac, pediatric, and pain management? Which service lines or volume levels justify in-house calls? How can trauma requirements be fulfilled and what role can CRNA’s or AA’s play in such coverage? These are all examples of real-world issues that require insight into the clinical side of anesthesia to answer. Having a consultant team led by a board-certified anesthesiologist who has “been in the trenches” of a complex OR is invaluable to allow facilities to negotiate on a level playing field. Experienced consultants will also be able to establish reasonable and practical clinical and efficiency metrics.
Do they understand the anesthesia market locally and nationally?
Anesthesia delivery models, costs, and payer reimbursements can vary widely from state to state and region to region. Having a resource well versed in these nuances and having access to the proper analytical tools can support your negotiating team from a position of strength, recognizing the reality of the local market, not solely relying on information provided by the anesthesia group. Whether your proposed solution is renegotiating an existing agreement, seeking a new provider group, or employing your providers, an anesthesia consulting company that understands the local dynamics can help you level the playing field.
Are they experienced with different coverage options to explore for your facility?
For any given set of coverage requirements, there are a wide variety of viable anesthesia staffing options. Your consultant should have the breadth of experience and knowledge to consider numerous models and identify those that would be reasonable to optimize recruitment, retention, and sustainability at your facility. Each model has operational pros and cons, which your consultant should be able to delineate for you. Various models can also differ widely in cost and you should reasonably expect delivery of a pro forma estimating the cost impact for each option.
Can the consultant identify opportunities to improve anesthesia revenue cycle performance?
Most anesthesia subsidy arrangements involve establishing a baseline for collected revenue. While historical performance is easy to establish for an existing provider, if a new provider is being considered, projections must be built from the ground up. In either event, the nuances of anesthesia professional fee collections make modeling an accurate figure difficult. In our experience, hospital teams generally do not have the expertise to create such models. You should be able to rely on your anesthesia consulting partner to develop accurate projections and sometimes to identify opportunities for revenue cycle improvement which should reduce the required support for anesthesia services.
Is an anesthesia consulting company able to create and analyze data to identify opportunities for efficiency?
Data analysis is invaluable in approaching anesthesia negotiations. In addition to pro-forma development, numerous insightful metrics including those related to utilization, net anesthesia spend, and call hours burden can be analyzed and benchmarked. These measures can direct the negotiation team to opportunities for optimization of the financial terms of the anesthesia agreement. To do so, hospitals should seek a consulting partner who understands these complex calculations but also has a deep database that allows benchmarking.
Are they able to support your chosen anesthesia solution during implementation?
Whatever solution you ultimately arrive at, if it involves a transition to a new structure, new group, or employment, your facility may need implementation support. In order to provide this, If requested, your consultant should have the knowledge and resources to assist in a variety of ways including:
- Update and adjust the financial and staffing modeling as providers are recruited;
- Identify locum’s needs if applicable
- create anesthesia-specific policies and procedures
- develop anesthesia dashboards
- assist with revenue cycle monitoring
- Support group leadership in OR committee meetings
- Observe and optimize peri-op processes
The right anesthesia consulting partner can make all the difference!
Enhance Healthcare Consulting has a long-established national track record, working with many well-known hospitals and health systems to address their anesthesia needs. We check all the boxes on the key attributes list above. Our anesthesiologist-led teams will create customized engagements to meet your specific anesthesia needs. We would welcome the chance to speak with you today! Reach us at info@enhancehc.com or (954) 242-1296