Anesthesia Department Management: How to Improve Anesthesia Quality
Author : Doc Clemens
4 Ways to Improve Anesthesia Quality
The quality of anesthesia provision can affect patient satisfaction, quality outcomes and finances in all place of services where it is provide. Here are four ways to improve anesthesia quality.
1. Track adverse anesthesia events. Anesthesia has a long history of quality outcomes and patient safety. In most facilities, the anesthesia process happens without any safety issues or adverse events however a lack of patient safety issues is wholeheartedly positive compared to specialties that are rife with potential complications. On the other hand, a lack of issues means that facilities struggle to collect data and document results.
2. Work to reduce post-operative nausea and vomiting. Anesthesia providers need to improve their identification, prevention and treatment of post-operative nausea and vomiting. PONV often suffers from a lack of attention because the issue seems trivial when compared to other measures, such as mortality following aortic valve repair. Still, PONV has undergone significant research by the academic community, and anesthesia providers have access to strong evidence on how PONV should be identified and treated. Patients with risk factors should receive prophylactic treatment with one of the four classes of medication that are known to be effective in preventing PONV. The anesthesia department needs a good protocol for how to react when a patient gets sick in the PACU.
3. Find out how patients feel about pain management efficacy. Pain also plays a significant role in ASC patient satisfaction, though it is harder to predict and treat because "best practices" are less established for pain management than for PONV. Pain is more complicated because risk factors have much greater variability based on procedure and individual patient. Anesthesia departments can determine the efficacy of pain management by asking patients 24 hours after surgery, "Over the past 24 hours, on a scale of 1-10, how often has your pain been managed?"
4. Track overall patient satisfaction with anesthesia provision. In addition to tracking satisfaction with pain management and PONV the department should measure overall patient satisfaction with anesthesia. Satisfaction can be affected by a number of factors, including provider attitude, case delays, patient warmth and patient comfort. Anesthesia departments should continue to gather data on overall satisfaction by asking, "On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your anesthesia experience?" The patient can then elaborate on any reasons for dissatisfaction.