Anesthesia practices that have grown the most lean on security and profitability, Tony Mira, Anesthesia Business Consultants' president and CEO, wrote in a recent blog post. But how does practice size play into this growth?
Early anesthesia mega groups were built after Medicare and Medicaid rates were frozen in the 1990s, Mr. Mira writes. Commercial payers became conglomerates, and anesthesia practices required aggressive negotiation to ensure reimbursements. In a similar fashion, more modern groups have harnessed the funds of venture capital or morphed into commercial entities.
But because anesthesia providers are expected to deliver customer service as well as anesthesia services, Mr. Mira writes, market security differs site by site.
This subjectivity means bigger is not always better. Anesthesia practice management is a "multidisciplinary exercise for which many anesthesia providers are simply not prepared," Mr. Mira wrote, citing the need for paid administrators and consultants.