ASA formed the Committee on Future Models of Anesthesia Practice (CFMAP) approximately two years ago. One purpose of this committee is to evaluate how the rapidly changing health care system could affect anesthesiologists and develop strategies for our members to effectively deal with those possible changes.
The proposed system changes include Accountable Care Organizations, Shared Savings programs and various forms of enterprise contracting. Most of the proposed changes include models for bundling most or all of the services provided to patients by multiple providers across one or more care settings into a single payment. From a payer standpoint, this is not only efficient, but significantly reduces the financial risks associated with an episode of care that can span an extended period of time, involve multiple providers (surgeon, anesthesiologist, intensivists, multiple specialists, physical and occupational therapists, etc.) and several care settings (hospitals, rehab centers, skilled nursing facilities and home health care)....