1. Experience with pediatrics. Dr. Wherry says if a surgery center is planning to perform surgery on pediatric patients, the contracted anesthesia group should include providers with pediatric anesthesia experience. This doesn’t mean the anesthesiologist has to be fellowship-trained in pediatric anesthesiology — according to Dr. Wherry, fellowship training is more applicable for anesthesiologists assisting with complex in-patient cases.
He says anesthesiologists with pediatric experience are essential for cases that involve children because they understand the differences in dosage, airway management and medication needs between a child and an adult. “They’re not just little adults,” he says. “There is a physiologic difference and a medication requirement difference and a dosing difference. Airway management is probably the biggest one. You need to have that skill set, or it’s not going to go well and the surgeons are not going to be happy.”
He says when adding a new anesthesia provider or group, the ASC administrator should inquire as to how many pediatric cases the group has performed in the past. “You also might want to call other locations where they’ve practiced and make sure they are competent in dealing with pediatric patients,” he says.
Read the full report in Becker’s ASC Review on ASC anesthesia.
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