ASA Committee on Communication
Physician anesthesiologists are considered the guardians of patient safety among key stakeholder audiences, including policymakers and consumers, according to ASA public opinion research. Yet despite their constituents' overwhelming preference for a physician anesthesiologist over a nurse to handle medical emergencies during surgery, one in three policymakers don't know that an anesthesiologist is a physician or believe an anesthesiologist is another kind of medical professional.
As part of ASA's Made for This Moment awareness campaign, you can help influence policymakers' perceptions of the specialty and protect it like you protect your patients with your superior education and training that are made for critical moments.
It's vital that the individuals making health care policy decisions on the local and national levels understand the value physician anesthesiologists bring inside and outside the OR. Whether it's during surgery, providing pain management, or serving on the front lines of a pandemic,...
