The United States is experiencing an increase of opioid related deaths, driven by high rates of prescription, high prescription dosages, and high rates of opioid use and misuse.[1] The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that 2.6 million Americans over…
Tag: New York City Anesthesia Groups
Sharps Safety
Sharps related injuries are especially common in the perioperative setting. Anesthesia providers, perioperative nurses, and surgical staff are at particular risk for sustaining injuries from sharp instruments, given their need to administer medications, draw samples of blood and bodily fluid,…
Selective Cannabinoids: A Potential Adjuvant for Chronic Neuropathic Pain?
For anesthesia pain specialists, neuropathic pain continues to be an elusive target. Anti-epileptics, antidepressant, and opiate medications have historically been used for its treatment, but nonetheless as many as two in three patients who suffer from neuropathic pain are recalcitrant…
Changes to How Small Businesses are Covered Under BCRA
On July 13th, the GOP released a more recent draft of their Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. The original version was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on June 26, 2017.[i] Though the original bill was slated…
How Do We Prevent the Physician Shortage?
A multipronged approach will be required to mitigate the possibility for severe physician shortages, specifically in specialized fields such as anesthesia. A physician shortage is defined as the gap between physician supply and demand, as determined by institutions within the…
Effects of the Per Capita Medicaid Caps in the House AHCA
On June 16th, a bipartisan group of governors authored a letter to the Senate calling for a more open approach to legislating healthcare reform while heavily criticizing the House version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), or the so-called…
Big Data and Cybersecurity
In 2015, over 77% of office-based physicians reported using a certified EHR to manage clinical care.[i] From the smartphones in physicians’ pockets, to the vast EHR registries converging upon interoperability and the IoT medical devices in patients’ bodies, there are…
Difficult Airway Management
The difficult airway is a topic both ubiquitous and vaguely defined in clinical anesthesia practice. The most common characterization is a clinical situation in which a conventionally trained anesthesia provider has difficulty mask ventilating, intubating, or both. How one approaches…
Costs of Data Collection for Measuring Performance in Regards to Anesthesia
The fundamental purpose of healthcare is to achieve good health outcomes for patients (Murphy, 2012). Clinical outcomes are measured and published to ultimately improve healthcare quality for individuals. The role of performance measurement in healthcare is thought to ensure a…
How Does the IntuiTap Medical Device Help Physicians with Procedures?
Spinal blocks are administered by anesthesiologists for a variety of lower body surgeries including genitourinary tract procedures, cesarean sections, orthopedic hip or knee replacements, and lower abdominal surgeries like hernia repairs. Spinal anesthesia is achieved by a single shot of…