Anesthesia practice in the near future stands to undergo seismic changes due to the promise of technology and innovation, and those of us in the first decade of our careers stand to experience a considerably different practice landscape. Communication advances, smart monitors and systems, and different models of practice and patient management are a few avenues in which we can expect change in our specialty, and change will be driven by changing economics in the health care milieu.
Already, Alternative Payment Models (APMs) and the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) serve to incentivize quality and mark a shift from volume-based reimbursement to value-based reimbursement. As health care dollars become more scarce in the future, systems to incentivize quality will likely transition to systems that will penalize poor quality. While value-based reimbursement and economic pressures are not new concepts, health care is reaching an economic tipping point where these will quickly...
