Updates from October 2022 affecting the anesthesia industry that you don’t want to miss:

Most In-Demand Physician Specialties and Their Annual Salaries

Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare laid out the most requested physician searches by specialty for 2022 in its “Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives.” The report is based on 2,695 physician and advanced practitioner search engagements conducted from April 1, 2021, to March 31.

Here’s the most requested physician searches by specialty, followed by their average annual salary, pulled from Medscape’s “Physician Compensation Report 2022.” 

Physicians' Cost Cutting Tactics

Stay in the Know: In its 2022 “Physician Wealth & Debt Report,” Medscape surveyed physicians on their compensation and how they manage their money. Medscape surveyed more than 13,000 physicians in more than 29 specialties.

Here are six anonymous physicians’ cost cutting tactics:

DOJ Sues Cigna for Exaggerating Patient Illnesses

The Department of Justice is suing Cigna over allegations it defrauded the Medicare program out of tens of millions of dollars by exaggerating patient illnesses to obtain increased monthly payments.

Price transparency data provides new visibility into real rates paid to providers

Payers can use hospital transparency data to gain insights regarding the rates hospitals have negotiated with other payers, which can be used during contract negotiations, BRG analysts say.

Association for Independent Medicine Launches to Support Physician-Owned Medical Practices

Working to keep independent, physician-owned medical practices just that – independent – nearly 400 anesthesiologists from three states have come together to create the Association for Independent Medicine (AIM).

With a significant increase in private equity-funded groups – “corporate medicine” – taking over independent practices and hospitals, the organization’s purpose is to support groups who choose to remain independent by providing information, education and political advocacy.

The Medicare Advantage Trade-Off: Saving Money, Losing Access

Beneficiaries may spend less on premiums, but care delays are common. Do worse outcomes follow? From their ads, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans may seem like a low-cost, easy, and efficient way for America’s seniors to get healthcare. But Barry, a recently retired software executive, tells a cautionary tale.

7 Questions for 7 Regional Anesthesiologists

This year Eric S. Schwenk, MD, a professor of anesthesiology and orthopedic surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, wrote seven questions on regional anesthesia and selected a panel of experts to answer them.

Why Are Sounds Not Perceived Under Anesthesia?

The purpose of anesthesia is to put the brain into an unconscious state in which stimuli such as sounds are not perceived. In this state, the neurons in the auditory cortex are still stimulated by sounds, but the latter are not perceived by the brain. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, the CNRS and Université Paris-Saclay have revealed a novel neural mechanism that accompanies the transition from a state of conscious perception to a state of unconsciousness under anesthesia.

Instrument Helps Predict Same-Day Case Cancellations

Stay in the Know: Clinicians and health systems may find it easier to predict same-day surgical case cancellations using a newly designed prediction instrument.

The instrument can be applied preoperatively to a broad patient population and then be used to create and implement interventions to reduce same-day cancellations.

Healthcare Jobs Recovered From Early Pandemic Losses

Stay in the Know: The healthcare industry added 60,000 jobs in September and has now fully recovered all the jobs lost early in the pandemic, according to preliminary data out Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Providers Now Required to Share Greater Scope of Patient Data

A regulatory deadline kicked in requiring providers and other healthcare entities to be able to share a significantly larger scope of data with patients, despite major provider groups arguing they’re not ready to comply.

Most-Recruited Physician Specialties for the Last 5 Years

 

Family medicine is the most-recruited physician specialty in 2022, according to a Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare’s report. The report is based on 2,695 physician and advanced practitioner search engagements conducted from April 1, 2021, to March 31. Here are the most requested physician searches by specialty over the last five years:

3 Anesthesiologists Making Headlines

1 was arrested for allegedly plotting to give Russia confidential medical information about members of the U.S. military and the U.S. government.
 
1 distributed more than 7,810 oxycodone 30mg pills to his friends so they could sell it to buy cocaine and pay for private school tuition.
 
1 allegedly tampered with IV bags – injected the IV bag with heart-stopping drugs that caused almost a dozen patients to experience unexpected cardiac emergencies and the death of one of the ASC’s physicians.

Study Casts Doubt on Routine Use of Anesthesiologists in Cataract Surgery

Stay in the Know: Ophthalmologists may be able to safely cut back on having anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists routinely at bedside during cataract surgery, which accounts for more than two million surgeries per year in the U.S., according to a study publishing Oct. 3 in JAMA Internal Medicine

Physician’s Business Office Files Notice of Data Breach Affecting Over 196k Patients

Stay in the Know: Physician’s Business Office (“PBO”) filed an official notice of a data breach with the various state government entities after an unauthorized party was able to gain access to the company’s IT network. According to PBO, the breach resulted in the names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, protected health information and health insurance account information being compromised. Recently, PBO sent out data breach letters to 196,573 people, informing them of the incident and what they can do to protect themselves from identity theft and other frauds.

Physician's License Suspended After Performing Unauthorized Cosmetic Surgeries at ASC

Stay in the Know: Burien, Wash.-based family practice physician and cosmetic surgeon Kristine Brecht, MD, had her license suspended after she was caught performing plastic surgeries she had been ordered to stop performing, local NBC affiliate KING5 reported.

CommonSpirit Health says it Experienced ‘IT Security Incident’ in Multiple Regions

Stay in the Know: CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems, said it experienced an “IT security incident” on Monday at an undisclosed number of facilities in multiple regions.

California Passes AB 1278 First State Law Requiring Physicians to Disclose Open Payments Database to Patients

Stay in the Know: Governor Gavin Newsome signed California Assembly Bill 1278  which passed the assembly in late August and the State Senate in 2021.  AB 1278 would require physicians and surgeons (defined as a physician or surgeon licensed pursuant to the Medical Practice Act or an osteopathic physician or surgeon licensed by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California under the Osteopathic Act) to provide a written or electronic notice of the Open Payments database to a patient at the initial office visit.

How a former Walgreens exec is tackling health equity at Michigan’s largest health system

Stay in the Know: Carlos Cubia has been charged with tackling inequity both within Beaumont-Spectrum Health and the community. Here’s where he’s starting first.

North Carolina Supreme Court Overturns Precedent Shielding Nurses From Liability

Stay in the Know: A 3-year-old child (Baby A) was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy after an emergency department visit for an upper respiratory infection. The child’s cardiologist recommended an ablation procedure on the child’s heart to treat the disorder. Baby A was admitted to a medical facility for the procedure in October 2010. The anesthesia team consisted of Dr D, the anesthesiologist, and Mr V, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Dr D had his own anesthesiology practice but Mr V, the CRNA, was employed by the hospital.

Blue Cross Faces Market Monopolization Claim In Mich.

Stay in the Know: Michigan’s Blue Cross Blue Shield branch is again facing antitrust accusations after a federal judge on Wednesday partially revived claims from a group of anesthesiologists that allege a decades-long scheme by the insurance company to dominate the anesthesiology market in the state.

Stay in the Know: Hopkins Doctor and Army Spouse Federally Charged with Trying to Pass Information to Russians

A Baltimore anesthesiologist and her U.S. Army major spouse were federally indicted Wednesday in an alleged conspiracy to disclose health information to the Russian government to assist its war in Ukraine.

 

 

FTC Probes Market Power of One of Country’s Biggest Anesthesia Providers

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating one of the nation’s largest providers of anesthesia, American Anesthesia Company Partners, over whether it has gained too much power in some regional markets through acquisitions, according to people familiar with the matter.

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