The need for anesthesia services in offsite locations has increased rapidly over the last decade, creating numerous challenges for the busy anesthesiologist. With evolving technology, less invasive procedures have emerged as an alternative to traditional surgical approaches. The sheer volume of cases in offsite locations has been steadily increasing and generating substantial revenue for hospitals, necessitating the creation of a reliable and safe non-operating room anesthesia (NORA) service. Creation of such a service has required anticipating current and future needs driven by changes in patient demographics, financial reimbursement models and prioritization of patient safety.
Nagrebetsky et al. retrospectively analyzed data from the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (NACOR) to examine trends and characteristics of NORA and O.R. cases during a four-year period spanning from 2010 to 2014. This registry captures data from approximately 25 percent of all anesthetics in the United States. NORA cases constituted a third of the 18...
