Many areas of healthcare are projected to suffer from labor shortages in the coming years, and that includes nurse anesthetists.
Phil Eichenholz, MD, CEO of anesthesia at Tacoma, Wash.-based Sound Physicians Anesthesia, told "Becker's ASC Review Podcast" that his practice has retained CRNAs thanks in part to giving them more responsibility.
Note: This is an edited excerpt. Listen to the full podcast episode here.
Question: What role should CRNAs play in providing care at surgery centers?
Dr. Phil Eichenholz: Previously how it was typically done was one anesthesiologist covering one surgeon. Do one case, go onto the next case. We think that an anesthesiologist together in concert with a CRNA and a team-like approach is that much more effective. We're big advocates of using as much regional anesthesia as possible. Patients want to wake up very comfortable these days, with as little pain as possible. But putting a regional block and then maybe having to use an adjunct of sedation or even general anesthesia can have a consequence in terms of being less efficient or taking more time to get the regional block in place.
You put together an anesthesia care team, and now you've got a whole team-like approach. You're getting your regional blocks placed prior to the patient going into the operating room. Then you just wheel the patient right in, start your adjunct anesthesia, whether it's sedation or general anesthesia, and you're off to the races and done. It's also much more cost effective. Obviously there is a disparity between what we provide in compensation for anesthesiologists and CRNAs. And if we do it in a team-like approach, we can lower the anesthesia costs.
The next thing to think about in terms of cost effectiveness to efficiency is that as one provider is taking a patient out of the operating room, we get a quick turnover. Another one is preparing the next patient and we're back rapidly into the operating room. We're that much more efficient.
A really important point is, coming out of COVID as we are now, we know that there's a nursing shortage across the country. But there also is going to be a tightening supply of both anesthesiologists and CRNAs, and we've been tremendously successful at recruiting CRNAs by having them practice at the top of their license. Our CRNAs are fully doing all regional anesthesia, and they're participating in all kinds of cases. And I think that is a really compelling story for CRNAs to come join us.