During ASA Advance: The Anesthesiology Business Event, leadership was a topic of discussion in both the exhibit hall and of the many sessions. For a private anesthesia practice, leadership comes in several different areas, a few of which we’ve highlighted below. To maintain practice independence, anesthesia groups must create opportunities for leadership within the group, not have one individual appointed to lead in all areas.

Developing a Culture of Leadership in Your Anesthesia Practice

Not everyone is a “natural born leader”. It’s important to recognize leadership skills and create a culture to promote development and growth to encourage potential leaders to get involved. It’s also incumbent upon group leaders to develop younger members to ensure the group’s stability into the future.

Here are some suggestions to help accomplish this:

• Invest in leadership training and development group members that express interest.
• Have regular group meetings to discuss challenges and collaborate on solutions.
• Reward and recognize achievements whether it’s for a sub-committee or individuals.
• Be supportive and a good listener.
• Practice what you preach.

Group Leadership in Your Anesthesia Practice

Usually in an anesthesia practice there is one physician that “takes charge” or is responsible for the bulk of the day-to-day operations of the group. Developing subcommittees within a group alleviates some of the responsibility so one anesthesiologist is not shouldering the entire burden. This also provides opportunities for other group members to get involved and take on a leadership role. Consider developing subcommittees for:

• Schedule Management
• Billing Oversight
• Recruiting/HR
• Payroll

OR Leadership in Your Anesthesia Practice

It doesn’t matter how long your group has been providing anesthesia services at a facility or how good the service is, this will no longer guarantee a continued partnership with your facility. Hospitals are always looking to save a buck and it’s tempting when a big national group comes knocking on their door with the promise of a reduced subsidy. However, they may not answer if you’ve developed a relationship with the c-suite and demonstrated your goals are aligned with theirs. We’ve compiled a list of action items to consider based on sessions attended as well as conversations we’ve had with CFO’s and their anesthesia partners:

• Keep the lines of communication with your facility leaders open. Make it a point to schedule regular meetings that are positive in nature and take that time to demonstrate your value in and out of the OR. Make sure your interactions with leadership go beyond requests for money or complaints.
• Demonstrate that your group is aligned with meeting the facility’s needs as well as achieving superior patient outcomes.
• Benchmark your performance by providing data relative to on-time starts and utilization (this information can be obtained through your billing partner)
• Leverage resources such as using the data provided by your billing company to demonstrate changes in payer mix, volume dips and so on.

To learn more about performance benchmarking and a demo of our utilization reporting, contact Fusion Anesthesia Solutions at sales@fusionanesthesia.com.

By Jeanette Mini, Vice President of Fusion Anesthesia Solutions