By Exec Edge Editorial Staff
Anesthesiologists are in short supply. Health systems around the nation are clamoring to find more of these vital physicians to meet ever-growing demand. The medical world is searching for solutions.
Without anesthesia providers, there can be no surgeries. Answers must be found soon or patients will be forced to wait even longer than they do already for necessary surgeries.
Experts point to several causes for the current shortage. At the entry level, residency programs in anesthesiology chronically lack funding and fewer and fewer young adults are choosing medicine as a career. At the other end of the pipeline, anesthesiologists are retiring at a rapid pace. So even as demand for surgical services rises by 2 to 3 percent annually due to population growth and an aging population, the number of anesthesiologists is not keeping pace.
Medical schools are trying to do what they can. Some are boosting recruiting and educating their students about the specialty and its many advantages, including the benefits that come with rising demand, such as geographical options and compensation.
The private sector is also lending a hand. Indeed, a comprehensive set of solutions is being offered by one of the nation’s premier anesthesiology practices, U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (USAP).
USAP has taken multifaceted approach to meet this increasing demand for care. It works constantly to attract new talent and to keep the talent it already has through leadership development training and building a unique and supportive culture.
One of these efforts is its annual Future Leaders in Anesthesia Conference. The fall meeting gives anesthesia residents and future Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) leadership and non-clinical training that prepares them for careers in anesthesia. The event offers them practical advice about the business of anesthesia and helps them network with people who are pursuing the same goals.
Participants report that they get a clearer picture of their potential career paths and a nuts-and-bolts understanding of what it means to be a clinician in the real world. Last year’s conference included such topics as responding to a mass casualty event, conflict resolution in an operating room and the importance of mindfulness and mental resilience to prevent burnout (Burnout is a problem for almost all medical providers but it’s especially acute among anesthesiologists, whose schedules can vary radically by the day).
USAP’s efforts have an internal focus as well. Its annual leadership conference provides 300 of its clinician leaders with a platform to share best practices, further their leadership skills and work together to innovatively address current and anticipated challenges and opportunities. This ongoing support helps USAP retain and strengthen its valuable clinical leadership ranks and creates a culture of support for those on the front lines each day providing care.
USAP has also found that clinicians working together outside the operating room can have positive benefits for them and their communities. Through its USAP Cares program, USAP physicians and CRNAs choose local charities and volunteer their time and money to provide hands-on help to the organizations that improve the communities where they live and work. The clinicians work together to build by hand items such as wheelchairs, bicycles and beds that they pass along to worthy charities.
In addition to ongoing USAP Cares events throughout the year, the company also sets aside one week in September, called USAP Cares Week, as a national week of service. Last year’s USAP Cares Week events assisted 23 different charitable organizations and saw more than 375 USAP team members contribute more 1,000 hours of their time. The collective efforts touched the lives of 60,000 people in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
These USAP Cares activities help improve the communities where clinicians live and work but also provide an opportunity to strengthen relationships, culture, and morale.
USAP also has been helping to create residency programs to increase the number of anesthesiologists. It is now a part of four such programs, with more on the way. Its newest has already attracted more than 1,000 applicants competing for 12-14 slots.
Fixing the anesthesiologist shortage should be a high priority. It will take the combined efforts of academia, hospital systems, regulators and anesthesia practices. Forward-thinking practices like USAP and others are tackling this challenge head on. It’s a matter of access to care for patients and a matter of overall health for our communities.
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