At the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Meeting in Chicago May 10, Michael Simon, MD, regional director for North American Partners in Anesthesia, chairman of the department of anesthesia at UPMC Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., and chairman of the department of anesthesia at Macneal Hospital in Berwyn, Ill., discussed how an anesthesia practices can operate in an accountable care model.
Anesthesia alone accounts for about 1 percent of Medicare Parts A and B budget, according to Dr. Simon, but surgical episodes of care account for almost 40 percent of those budgets. He argued that anesthesia groups can impact not just the anesthesia budget, but the surgical episode of care cost as well by making the jump to practicing in an accountable care model.
Dr. Simon explained how "old style" anesthesia practices operate:
• Physicians are assigned to cases based on rotation.
• There is a leadership void.
• The goal is to complete the case done and go home.
To impact a hospital's bottom line, though, anesthesia practices must make the switch to accountable care, which looks like this, according to Dr. Simon:
• Physicians are assigned to cases based on expertise or competency.
• Physicians work collaboratively with hospital administration and perioperative teams to achieve goals.
• A major goal is perioperative quality improvement.
"To make this jump…is not an easy thing," Dr. Simon said. However, if a practice makes the switch and focuses not just on anesthesia but on perioperative care, it can effect real change and reduce the surgical episode of care cost per patient.
Anesthesia alone accounts for about 1 percent of Medicare Parts A and B budget, according to Dr. Simon, but surgical episodes of care account for almost 40 percent of those budgets. He argued that anesthesia groups can impact not just the anesthesia budget, but the surgical episode of care cost as well by making the jump to practicing in an accountable care model.
Dr. Simon explained how "old style" anesthesia practices operate:
• Physicians are assigned to cases based on rotation.
• There is a leadership void.
• The goal is to complete the case done and go home.
To impact a hospital's bottom line, though, anesthesia practices must make the switch to accountable care, which looks like this, according to Dr. Simon:
• Physicians are assigned to cases based on expertise or competency.
• Physicians work collaboratively with hospital administration and perioperative teams to achieve goals.
• A major goal is perioperative quality improvement.
"To make this jump…is not an easy thing," Dr. Simon said. However, if a practice makes the switch and focuses not just on anesthesia but on perioperative care, it can effect real change and reduce the surgical episode of care cost per patient.