Stipend Reconciliation and Contract Mediation and Development

Hospital administration recognizes that “Surgery” is the “Financial Engine Powering a Hospital” and that long term success in the surgical healthcare market will result from provision of efficient, client-centered operational programs and ongoing expense planning activity.

Anesthesiology Program: Vital Support Service to Numerous Hospital Programs & Perioperative Services

A hospital’s anesthesiology program is a paramount support service to a number of hospital programs; the anesthesia service is a vital component of perioperative services. Nationally anesthesiology program expenses challenge hospitals’ ability to maintain marketable, economically viable, full-service medical center level (surgical) programs. Today, turmoil exists in most anesthesiology programs due to financial and staffing challenges.

Nationally there is a shortage of at least 4,000 anesthesiologists and it is expected that the shortage will continue for at least the next three to five years. There are not sufficient CRNAs in practice to compensate for the physician shortage, and in fact there is also a sizeable shortage of CRNAs nationally.

Compounding the shortage of anesthesiology is the need to staff additional anesthesia sites at every institution as the need for anesthesiology services has grown well outside the traditional boundary of the OR suite. In addition, as specialized surgical suites and free-standing ASCs flourish on hospital campuses, the need to staff these OR sites increases the demand for anesthesiology services (FTEs) however, in most instances, anesthesiology utilization per site and average billed anesthesiology units per site are reduced or remain static as the need for additional providers increases.

Dealing With Anesthesiology Costs That Outpace Billing

In response to these supply and demand factors nationally, both anesthesiologists’ and CRNAs’ compensation and lifestyle demands are higher than at any time in recent history.

The national anesthesiology environment’s financial imbalance has resulted in situation where more and more hospitals are forced to subsidize their anesthesiology practices to enable their anesthesiology groups to recruit and retain well trained physicians and CRNAs. On average an anesthesiologists total compensation package expectation is in excess of $450,000 annually and CRNAs have average total compensation expectations in excess of $190,000 (MGMA Compensation and Production Survey – 2008). Inefficient OR and OB programs CAN and DO result in hospitals having to stipend their anesthesiology group at the level of millions of dollars annually.

Given the aforementioned issues and challenges, as well as a Hospital’s want to maintain a marketable and growth oriented perioperative services program, hospitals seeks assistance in performing an external review of its anesthesia services. Primary objectives of administration generally include a review of the existing anesthesiology program with focus on:

OR Efficiencies, LLC is a leader providing hospitals and anesthesia practices assistance in attaining wanted objectives. The team is nationally recognized as authorities in the field of anesthesiology stipend reconciliation, contract development and developing clear program expectations to support ongoing and focused program development. In collaboration with the Hospital and anesthesia group, the Consultant’s work focuses on identifying, quantifying, and potentially assisting with implementing operational improvements of the anesthesiology and OR programs that can result in minimized anesthesia stipends as well as identifying lost and new revenues and improving surgeon and anesthesiologist satisfaction.