As anesthesia practices confront shifting case volumes, tighter reimbursements and growing cost pressures, flexibility has become a defining skill for long-term success.
Brian Cohen, MD, administrative chief of Miami Anesthesia Services, joined Becker’s to discuss how transparency, collaboration and active management are key to keeping practices stable.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity and flow.
Question: What do you see as the most pressing workforce sustainability issues today, and what models or innovations might best address them?
Dr. Brian Cohen: Honestly, anything that works today won’t be sustainable tomorrow. That’s why flexibility and innovation are crucial.
Case volumes and acuity levels are shifting across hospitals, ASCs and office-based sites. Insurers will continue trying to reduce payments. So, being nimble and informed is the only way to adapt while maintaining safety, which can’t be compromised.
We’re seeing two main models gaining traction: practices without private equity backing and hospital- or facility-employed models.
Both emphasize transparency — stakeholders want to know where every dollar goes. But transparency alone doesn’t make a model sustainable. True sustainability requires partnership and collaboration toward reducing costs through active employee management and data-driven insights.
Anesthesia comes down to costs and collections. Actively managing staff utilization and using data to inform decisions can help control and reduce costs. You can’t just set anesthesia management on autopilot. It takes active collaboration every day.
