Anesthesia

John J. Vondrell, MD, received the Wisconsin Society of Anesthesiologists' 2014 Distinguished Service Award, according to a Brookfield Now report.

Byung Ho Lee, MD, joined Adventist Health Spine and Pain Center in Hanford, Calif.

Riverton, Wyo.-based SageWest Health Care appointed Jeffrey Faaberg, MD, to its medical staff.

TeamHealth appointed Oliver Rogers executive vice president and COO.

TeamHealth acquired the operations of Omaha-based Heartland Anesthesia Services.

CMS is establishing four new, more specific modifiers that will eventually replace modifier 59 (distinct procedural service) and the new modifiers will be effective on Jan. 1, according to an Anesthesia Business Consultants blog post.

Anesthesia group mergers and acquisition activity has been in full swing in 2014. Here are 22 transactions that occurred so far this year, divided by acquiring company.

Physician-owned company Somnia Anesthesia has been chosen to provide anesthesia services at Memorial Medical Center of Las Cruces (N.M.), according to a Las Cruces Sun-News report.

Whether in the outpatient or hospital setting, in the operating room the surgeon and the anesthesiologist are the leaders of patient care. To deliver high-quality care, it's essential they work in tandem and maintain a strong professional relationship.

New research has found that a patient may experience "accidental awareness" during general anesthesia in about one in every 19,000 cases, according to a report by The Advisory Board Company.