Dr Leng is right. The future of anesthesia isn't about competing with CRNAs and computers. Cost pressures dictate that eventually, mid levels and computers will win. Instead, anesthesiologists should look for what else that can be done - and that only they can do - given that more junior staff can do what anesthesiologists once had to do.
Anesthesiologists must move up the value chain. That will likely manifest pre, intra, and post op:
Pre-op: Devote more time and energy to the pre-op processes. That may even mean working with surgeons (if they can), planning and communication with the patient before they arrive for the procedure, work with OR staff and pre-op nurses in the prep processes, and ensure that all pre-op checklists are being adhered through (even endoscopic scope cleaning checklists).
Intra-op: Support the most complex intra-operative anesthesia cases.
Post-op: Monitor patients more closely in the PACU and help with discharge planning to ensure the fastest, safest recovery.
In a nutshell, anesthesiologists will move up the value chain into a more managerial role. Most providers are by definition doers, not managers. As mid levels continue to proliferate throughout every avenue of care, doctors, particularly anesthesiologists, are poised to become the grand overseer of the entire peri-operative flow.
Assuming a managerial role will introduce a new set of challenges, primarily around communication and collaboration between anesthesiologists and their mid levels. Pristine EyeSight helps solve that exact problem.
Pristine EyeSight is Pristine's HIPAA compliant, secure, 1st person audio / video streaming solution built for Google Glass. Pristine Glass wearers can share what they're seeing, hearing, and saying securely to any authorized device - iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, Mac, or PC. EyeSight is the ultimate communications tool.
Anesthesiologists and their mid levels have felt tension as they compete over the same cases. The problem hasn't been the mid levels, but the fact that the anesthesiologists didn't have the tools to assume a more managerial role. Pristine EyeSight is the ultimate communications tool that will connect CRNAs and anesthesiologists so that anesthesiologists can move up the value chain. As anesthesiologists move between the PACU, the outpatient clinic, and pre-op staging areas, they'll use EyeSight to beam into ORs through their mid levels.
The future of anesthesia looks brighter than ever before.