Anesthesia

 The merit-based incentive payment systems program is now in its eighth year of operation, and Tony Mira, CEO of Anesthesia Business Consultants, laid out what anesthesiologists need to know this year about the program in a December blog post. 

Sam Smith, MD, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, has switched the kind of anesthetic gas he uses at work every day to cut down on his environmental impact, according to a Jan. 10 report from WBUR.

Montana health systems and hospitals are being crushed by anesthesiologist shortages, but anesthesiologists are still opposed to integrating certified registered nurse anesthetists into health systems, Billings Gazette reported Jan. 6. 

Paul Pomerantz, CEO of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, plans to retire after a 10-year tenure. 

Montana's health systems have been suffering from a shortage of anesthesiologists, which has only worsened due to COVID-19, according to a Jan. 6 report from the Billings Gazette. 

From new guidelines to an acquisition, here are eight anesthesia updates Becker's has reported on since Dec. 14: 

Here are three anesthesiologists making headlines since Dec. 21:

New guidelines from the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine instruct physicians to ask patients about their cannabis use before undergoing procedures requiring anesthesia.

Here are four states that clarified the scope of practice for CRNAs in 2022:

Two anesthesiologists will join West Georgia Anesthesiology Associates and Tanner Heart Care in Carrollton, according to a Dec. 26 release from Tanner Health. Davoy Murray, MD, and Brit Lovvorn, MD, will join Tanner Health's open-heart surgery program in January.