A new era is beginning that will test the skill and expertise of anesthesia leadership
in practice management. All components of the not-for-profit health care systems are
experiencing workforce shortages, decreasing operating margins, and greater degrees
of governmental regulation. Survival requires adept financial leadership and the ability
to partner. Porter and Teisberg [
[1]
] emphasize in their book Redefining Health Care, that “the US health care system is on a dangerous path with a toxic combination
of high costs, uneven quality, frequent errors, and limited access to care.” The magnitude
of the problem seems overwhelming without a quick fix using traditional solutions
of consolidation and cost shifting. Anesthesia practices fortunately are well positioned
to address these challenges proactively. Challenges fall into four broad categories:
(1) understanding and delivering value, (2) mastering throughput and customer service,
(3) competing on quality, and (4) partnering. Attention to basic business principles
in each of these categories by anesthesia leadership will allow anesthesiologists
to maximize success in the market place.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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© 2007 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
