Philip S. Koerper, MD, chief of anesthesia at Kentucky Surgery Center, recently sat down with an editorial staff member at Beckers ASC Review. He discusses five ways that ambulatory surgery center's anesthesiologists can help promote high-quality patient care and good relationships between providers.
1. Encourage collaboration between surgeons and anesthesiologists. Surgeons and anesthesiologists can butt heads over issues like case cancellations and scheduling, so Dr. Koerper emphatically states it is essential to foster a good relationship between the two provider groups from the onset. "We really work closely with the surgeons. We want them to be happy and satisfied because we want them to feel comfortable," he says. Knowing that tardiness can be a bone of contention between anesthesiologists and surgeons, Dr. Koerper says Kentucky Surgery Center anesthesiologists make sure to arrive at the center prior to the surgeons to ensure that patients are ready when the surgeons walk in the door.
He says the anesthesiologists help avoid last-minute case cancellations by talking to new surgeons about the ASC's guidelines on patient criteria. "[Bringing] them on board with that criteria greatly decreases the amount of cancellations we have," he says. Dr. Koerper points out that the anesthesiologists are also accessible to the surgeons if they have a pre-operative question about a particular patient.
2. Keep up-to-date on the latest anesthesia developments. Dr. Koerper affirms that anesthesiologists can improve patient care at an ASC by keeping an eye on recent anesthesia developments. He is optimistic that the recent purchase of an ultrasound machine will facilitate more efficient anesthesia administration.
He shares the fact that anesthesia providers at Kentucky Surgery Center conduct their own studies on how to improve their techniques. These studies can lead to better outcomes and prevent purchases of equipment that may not improve patient care. According to Dr. Koerper, "The best anesthesia providers will be excited to improve their quality of care, whether or not your surgery center has money to spend on the 'latest and greatest' technologies."
3. Perform intensive evaluations and benchmarking assessments. Anesthesia clinical quality should measurably capture and improve upon the performance, processes and outcomes associated with each and every patient’s anesthetic care experience. Dr. Koerper says Kentucky Surgery Center's affiliation with Somnia Anesthesia Services has helped the ASC to benchmark its quality of anesthesia administration over time. "We've got quality programs in place so [any issues with] our efficiency can be pointed out to us," he says. He states that anesthesia providers also conduct an intense evaluation on each other to determine where individual weaknesses might lie.
4. Optimize nerve block quality and administration. Dr. Koerper says the anesthesia providers at Kentucky Surgery Center have worked hard to improve nerve blocks, thus improving the patient experience and shortening turnover times. "We do a lot of orthopedics, and we do nerve blocks before the procedure. Previously we used the OR and that would take up valuable OR time," he says. "Now we do nerve blocks in the pre-op area, and have a dedicated anesthesiologist or two who get patients ready for surgery and do the nerve blocks." He claims that by performing the blocks in the pre-op area, the anesthesiologists can expedite the process of preparing the patient for surgery.
Dr. Koerper says the providers have also conducted studies on ways to improve the quality of nerve blocks. "I'm doing a study right now on the types of local anesthetics we put in our nerve blocks to try and make them better and make them last longer," he says. Putting time into improving anesthesia quality can positively affect the overall patient experience.
5. Abbreviate OR turnover times. Anesthesia providers must utilize appropriate tools and resources to effectively validate and continuously improve upon the services, performance and outcomes throughout the continuum of anesthetic care.
Dr. Koerper says that his ASC prides itself on quick OR turnover while still maintaining high-quality practices. "We do a lot of ENT procedures and we really have a very rapid operating room turnover time," he says. "Our staff is very adept at getting people to sleep safely and quickly and waking them up quickly." Your ASC will benefit if your anesthesiologists have the skill set needed to wake patients up quickly while also ensuring that they feel well enough to go home.
Learn more about Somnia Anesthesia Services.
Read Somnia's case study on Kentucky Surgery Center.
1. Encourage collaboration between surgeons and anesthesiologists. Surgeons and anesthesiologists can butt heads over issues like case cancellations and scheduling, so Dr. Koerper emphatically states it is essential to foster a good relationship between the two provider groups from the onset. "We really work closely with the surgeons. We want them to be happy and satisfied because we want them to feel comfortable," he says. Knowing that tardiness can be a bone of contention between anesthesiologists and surgeons, Dr. Koerper says Kentucky Surgery Center anesthesiologists make sure to arrive at the center prior to the surgeons to ensure that patients are ready when the surgeons walk in the door.
He says the anesthesiologists help avoid last-minute case cancellations by talking to new surgeons about the ASC's guidelines on patient criteria. "[Bringing] them on board with that criteria greatly decreases the amount of cancellations we have," he says. Dr. Koerper points out that the anesthesiologists are also accessible to the surgeons if they have a pre-operative question about a particular patient.
2. Keep up-to-date on the latest anesthesia developments. Dr. Koerper affirms that anesthesiologists can improve patient care at an ASC by keeping an eye on recent anesthesia developments. He is optimistic that the recent purchase of an ultrasound machine will facilitate more efficient anesthesia administration.
He shares the fact that anesthesia providers at Kentucky Surgery Center conduct their own studies on how to improve their techniques. These studies can lead to better outcomes and prevent purchases of equipment that may not improve patient care. According to Dr. Koerper, "The best anesthesia providers will be excited to improve their quality of care, whether or not your surgery center has money to spend on the 'latest and greatest' technologies."
3. Perform intensive evaluations and benchmarking assessments. Anesthesia clinical quality should measurably capture and improve upon the performance, processes and outcomes associated with each and every patient’s anesthetic care experience. Dr. Koerper says Kentucky Surgery Center's affiliation with Somnia Anesthesia Services has helped the ASC to benchmark its quality of anesthesia administration over time. "We've got quality programs in place so [any issues with] our efficiency can be pointed out to us," he says. He states that anesthesia providers also conduct an intense evaluation on each other to determine where individual weaknesses might lie.
4. Optimize nerve block quality and administration. Dr. Koerper says the anesthesia providers at Kentucky Surgery Center have worked hard to improve nerve blocks, thus improving the patient experience and shortening turnover times. "We do a lot of orthopedics, and we do nerve blocks before the procedure. Previously we used the OR and that would take up valuable OR time," he says. "Now we do nerve blocks in the pre-op area, and have a dedicated anesthesiologist or two who get patients ready for surgery and do the nerve blocks." He claims that by performing the blocks in the pre-op area, the anesthesiologists can expedite the process of preparing the patient for surgery.
Dr. Koerper says the providers have also conducted studies on ways to improve the quality of nerve blocks. "I'm doing a study right now on the types of local anesthetics we put in our nerve blocks to try and make them better and make them last longer," he says. Putting time into improving anesthesia quality can positively affect the overall patient experience.
5. Abbreviate OR turnover times. Anesthesia providers must utilize appropriate tools and resources to effectively validate and continuously improve upon the services, performance and outcomes throughout the continuum of anesthetic care.
Dr. Koerper says that his ASC prides itself on quick OR turnover while still maintaining high-quality practices. "We do a lot of ENT procedures and we really have a very rapid operating room turnover time," he says. "Our staff is very adept at getting people to sleep safely and quickly and waking them up quickly." Your ASC will benefit if your anesthesiologists have the skill set needed to wake patients up quickly while also ensuring that they feel well enough to go home.
Learn more about Somnia Anesthesia Services.
Read Somnia's case study on Kentucky Surgery Center.