Historically anesthesia information management system (AIMS) adoption has lagged significantly behind overall hospital electronic health record (EHR) adoption. However, in more recent years, the pace of AIMS adoption has accelerated with the implementation of meaningful use and with the increasingly apparent “gap” that a lack of electronic anesthesia encounter information leaves in a patient’s electronic clinical record. “In 2014, about 70 percent of hospitals in the U.S. had some form of electronic medical record and 45 percent of anesthesia practices utilized electronic anesthesia records, otherwise known as anesthesia information management systems (AIMS).” Unfortunately as hospitals increasingly adopt AIMS solutions, anesthesia providers (let alone anesthesia practice management teams) have had little input in the selection, build and implementation of the AIMS. However, input from anesthesia providers and practice managers is essential in order to get optimal use and benefits out of a system, regardless of the organization’s stage of adoption. For new...

Are you using social media for professional purposes?  If so, you are in the vanguard of specialist physicians generally, and of anesthesiologists in particular.  Many doctors are still skeptical of the benefits, and leery of the potential to waste a lot of time. Primary care physicians are among the more engaged with social media.  Media such as Twitter and Facebook are useful tools for connecting with patients who research their doctors; nearly 70 percent of all patients go to the internet either before or after a doctor’s visit, said cardiologist Kevin Campbell, MD, in an October 31, 2015 interview with Forbes magazine (Doctors Using Social Media To Reach The New Consumers Of Healthcare).  That ability to educate and influence patients—and potential patients—is relevant to chronic pain specialists, who are much more accustomed to marketing their practices than are anesthesiologists.  Dr. Campbell addressed the benefits of social media for anesthesiologists and their...

The Scene: Monthly Board Meeting  Gotham Anesthesia Associates is a 45-physician anesthesiology group providing services to patients in and around Gotham, New Jersey. Several years ago the group agreed that it was too large to have all members of the group involved in every issue the group considers. At the time they developed a five-physician “Board” that was to guide the day-to-day, week-to-week operations of the group. The group settled on five members to allow for representation of each of the major service locations and/or subspecialty area. The Board meets once a month at 6:15 PM. Unfortunately, typically only Dr. Jones (the group’s President) and the Administrator are present at 6:15 PM. Other physicians join the meeting at various points and business typically gets started by 6:45 PM. Dr. Peters never arrives before 6:45 PM because, he says, “we never start until then anyway.” The group’s agenda is sent out three...

Would you consider yourself an investment professional in your spare time? I didn’t think so. But many doctors who run their own practice are unknowingly held to that standard as fiduciaries to their 401(k) plan. If you’re playing that role, in part or whole, you’ve opened yourself up to personal liability if you (or those to whom you’ve delegated the decisions) fail to make the best choices for your plan’s investment line-up. This situation may sound far-fetched—not unlike asking your receptionist to perform medical procedures between phone calls—but I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Many small medical practices have their own retirement savings plans, typically a 401(k) or the very similar 403(b). You may start your plan with the best intentions: to give yourself and your employees the ability to build tax-deferred retirement savings. But someone has to decide what investments will be offered in the plan. Someone also...

There are a number of factors that impact both the relative and absolute attractiveness of a practice to a potential partner/buyer. First off, it is assumed that all anesthesiologists provide high quality clinical care, but there is much more that needs to be considered when gauging whether or not a practice is attractive. Based on Cross Keys Capital’s extensive transactional experience as the most active investment banking firm representing physicians, and more specifically anesthesiologists, on the sale of their practice, we have identified seven high-level areas of focus that buyers use to evaluate the overall attractiveness of a practice. Corporate Governance/Leadership. The board of directors needs to be comprised of high-quality, well respected physicians, medical directors and executives who have leadership experience in operating and guiding their group. This is a critical component when dealing with prospective buyers as a lack of leadership and structure could potentially be perceived as being...