The shortage of anesthesia providers persists throughout the healthcare industry, as the Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of up to 6,300 anesthesiologists by 2036, hitting rural areas particularly hard.
Here are five things to know:
1. Both ASCs and hospitals are affected. ASC growth has made surgeries more accessible overall, but the explosion of ASCs has spread the existing pool of anesthesiologists even thinner.
“Now, you're not just running 12 operating rooms, you're running 12 operating rooms and six rooms over at that ASC. Maybe you need at least 18 people in the morning instead of 12, and where are they coming in? Whether it's an anesthesia practice or whether an anesthesia care team with [certified registered nurse anesthetists], you just need those bodies. Within the hospital, we're seeing the horizontal explosion of non-OR anesthesia – so catheterization labs, gastroenterology, interventional radiology, etc.,” Mark Thoma, MD, and chair of anesthesia at San Francisco-based The Permanente Medical Group told Becker's.
2. The shortage is driven by both increased demand and providers leaving the industry. Nearly 30% of anesthesiologists are projected to leave the practice by 2033, according to a 2023 white paper from Medicus Healthcare Solutions. There are currently over 7,700 people per one anesthesiologist in the U.S, while over 17% of current providers are nearing retirement and over 56% are over 55. Burnout is also a major factor in providers leaving the industry, with over 50% of anesthesiologists saying that they felt burnt out or both burnt out and depressed, according to a 2024 Medscape survey.
3. Fewer new anesthesia providers, too. There are 172 anesthesia residency programs in the U.S, with 1,609 positions offered. In 2023, of 1,353 medical students seeking an anesthesiology residency, 46% did not match.
4. The shortage also impacts CRNAs –– which hurts rural communities the most. By 2025, the shortage of nurses will grow to between 200,000 and 450,000. CRNAs represent more than 80% of rural anesthesia providers, administering over 50 million anesthetics annually to patients in the U.S. It is estimated that 30,200 new advanced practice registered nurses will need to be enrolled in master's and doctoral programs each year through 2031 to meet the increasing need.
5. The threat to provider revenue is significant. Surgical services make up about 60% of a facility’s revenue, according to the Medicus report, meaning that the dwindling number of anesthesia providers has consequences for patient care as well as revenue.