SMART, SAFE ANESTHESIA REGULATIONS MEAN BETTER ACCESS, LOWER COST
Changing the model will increase access to needed health care services, contain costs, and give Oklahoma hospitals the flexibility to meet patient needs in under-served rural and urban communities alike.
This effective and proven model would not end physician supervision of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in Oklahoma. Instead, it would allow hospitals to choose whether or not to require supervision based on their own individual circumstances and staffing needs.
This effective and proven model used in 40 other states will end an outdated and meaningless professional practice mandate that drives costs higher and limits access to anesthesia services in underserved rural and urban Oklahoma communities.
Changing the model would put patients first, ahead of an outdated anesthesia model which favors turf wars over what is best for patients and taxpayers. It would put Oklahoma's anesthesia model in line with 40 other states.
Oklahoma’s current anesthesia regulations are antiquated and anti-patient due to cost. Oklahoma is now among ONLY 10 states that continue to require mandatory supervision of CRNAs by physicians.
40 other states do not have these mandatory supervision requirements and unnecessary restrictions on CRNAs.
Medical studies examining states that do not have supervision requirements found no differences in patient safety or healthcare quality.
At a time when health care laws and delivery are changing, creating a smart, safe anesthesia model in Oklahoma would improve access to needed, often life-saving medical care for thousands of patients at Oklahoma hospitals.
Oklahoma patients are entering a health care system where access to surgical procedures is limited by unnecessary restrictions on anesthesia providers.
Oklahoma has more than 600 CRNAs. Already, they are the largest providers of anesthesia services in many parts of rural Oklahoma, allowing patients in these underserved areas access to obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization services.
As more people gain health insurance and seek surgeries at their local hospitals, CRNAs can safely and at lower costs provide anesthesia within the scope of their practice.
A safe, smart anesthesia delivery model will enable many Oklahoma hospitals to meet the increased need for surgeries from a growing number of patients in the future.
A smart, safe anesthesia delivery model will give hospitals the flexibility to administer anesthesia at lower costs in the underserved Oklahoma communities, while still protecting health care quality and medical outcomes.
A smart, safe anesthesia delivery model will increase access to needed health care services, contain costs, and give Oklahoma hospitals the flexibility to meet patient needs in both rural and urban communities alike.
A new model would not necessarily end physician supervision of CRNAs in Oklahoma. Instead, it would allow hospitals to choose whether or not to require supervision based on their staffing, patients, and needs.
A new model will end an outdated and meaningless professional practice mandate that drives costs higher and limits access to anesthesia services in underserved rural and urban Oklahoman communities.
Based on experiences in other states, there is evidence new legislation will contain, and even lower health care costs related to anesthesia and surgeries.
A June 2010 Lewin Group study published in The Journal of Nursing Economics found that anesthesia delivery models in which CRNAs administer anesthesia without supervision cost about 25 percent less than the second lowest-cost model.
The study concluded: “These results support the conclusion that the most cost-effective delivery model is CRNAs practicing independently.”
“Analysis of claims data suggests CRNAs acting independently are the lower cost to the private payer.”
“As the demand for health care continues to grow, increasing the number of CRNAs, and permitting them to practice in the most efficient delivery model, will be a key to containing costs while maintaining quality care.”
Substantial scientific and medical research has found no differences in patient safety and surgical outcomes in states with and without CRNA supervision.
Studies — including one from the Institute of Medicine and one from the Research Triangle Institute in 2010 — have found no difference in patient safety or medical outcomes regardless of whether or not the CRNAs were supervised by doctors.