SUMMER 2018 NEWSLETTER
SENTINEL President’s Message Why Should I Care About Advocacy? We all work long hours in direct patient care, leaving little available time for any other activities, particularly advocacy. However, I want to suggest that we need to do more to promote patient safety in anesthesia care and to preserve the team approach to care.
Tom Witkowski, M.D., FASA PSA PRESIDENT
I cannot remember a period in the last twenty years with so much activity damaging to the physician-patient relationship as this one. As medical professionals, we need to stay active.
In an example of why we need to stay vigilant, New York released a budget with a line item authorizing independent CRNA practice. What was alarming was that there wasn’t any discussions prior to the budget release by the governor’s office that this would occur. This triggered a response from the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists. Working in conjunction with other medical groups, they were able to persuade legislators that this would create a two-tiered level of care within the state and that the budget was not an appropriate place for a medical standard of care decisions. Dealing with this problem required several months of work by a number of our colleagues in New York. Aside from independent CRNA practice, anesthesiologists are confronted by a number of issues which impact our ability to care for patients. Drug shortages directly impact us on a daily basis, causing a change in how we render care. The response to the opiate crisis has reduced the availability of analgesic drugs. Legislation has passed that requires additional training on opiates to maintain our license. There is consideration by legislation to develop a committee which will define how opiates are prescribed with probable legal penalties for failure to comply. Other legislation that impacts us is balance billing, hospitals and private equity firms are purchasing practices — anesthesiology practices are popular targets. The next step to improve profitability will be to change how care is delivered. Nonphysician providers seek to make themselves equal to physicians by government decree. All of these things impact how you work, interact with your patients, and care for them. I cannot remember a period in the last twenty years with so much activity damaging to the physician-patient relationship as this one. As medical professionals, we need to stay active. Only through continued advocacy will we be able to continue to provide the care we should and advance the practice of medicine. We owe it to our patients and ourselves. I am happy to talk to any of you about any issues you are experiencing. STAYING INVOLVED IS CRITICAL.
The Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists | 717-558-7750 ext. 1596 | www.psanes.org