Technology is transforming anesthesia care in ASCs, streamlining workflows, enhancing safety and expanding the possibilities for same-day complex procedures.
Two anesthesia leaders joined Becker’s to discuss the role of technology in the future of ASC-anesthesia care.
Question: What role do you see technology — from AI to new anesthesia delivery models — playing in the future of ASC anesthesia care?
Editor’s note: These responses were edited lightly for clarity and length.
Carlee Clark, MD. Chief of Anesthesia Integrated Clinical Center of Excellence and Vice Chair of Clinical Operations at the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston): Historically, ASC anesthesia models have thrived on efficiency — delivering safe, high-quality care to healthy patients in a cost-effective manner. Looking ahead, technology and AI will further enhance this foundation. Artificial intelligence tools that assist with preoperative chart review and patient selection have tremendous potential to improve the accuracy of case triage, optimize scheduling and reduce same-day cancellations. These innovations will streamline workflows for surgeons, schedulers and anesthesiologists alike.
In addition, AI-driven solutions for anesthesia documentation can significantly decrease the administrative burden on anesthesia professionals, allowing them to focus more fully on patient care and intraoperative quality. Combined with advances in anesthesia delivery models — such as remote monitoring, smart infusion systems and integrated EMR analytics — technology will play a pivotal role in advancing both the efficiency and quality of ASC anesthesia care.
Patrick Giam, MD. President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists: Technology continues to transform every aspect of healthcare, and ambulatory anesthesia is no exception. In fact, ASCs are uniquely positioned to benefit from new technology given that ASCs thrive on efficiency, safety and patient experience — and technology is rapidly enhancing all three.
Artificial intelligence and data analytics are beginning to support real-time decision-making: from optimizing case scheduling and turnover times, to predicting patients at risk of postoperative nausea, pain, or unplanned admissions. AI tools allow anesthesiologists to anticipate problems rather than react to them, improving both safety and resource utilization. Similarly, digital dashboards and automated documentation will free clinicians to focus more on direct patient care.
On the clinical side, newer anesthesia delivery models — such reliance on enhanced recovery protocols and regional anesthesia techniques — are reducing physiologic stress and hastening recovery, enabling truly same-day complex procedures. Another promising new technology is closed-loop sedation, where anesthetic delivery can be fine-tuned using objective brain activity data. Tele-anesthesia and remote preoperative evaluation platforms are expanding access and allowing personalized, efficient care even before patients enter the facility.
As anesthesiologists, our challenge and opportunity are to lead this integration thoughtfully. Technology should never replace our clinical judgment or compassion, but it can amplify them. ASA’s and the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia’s role is to help ensure these innovations are implemented safely in an evidence-based fashion. Anesthesiologists want to enhance the patient’s perioperative journey and not complicate it. The future of ambulatory anesthesia will be defined not just by new tools, but by how we use them to deliver smarter, more human-centered care.
