Michigan medical leaders launch public education effort to inform Michigan patients, urge them to demand anesthesiologist-led care
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – If your heart stops during surgery, who do you want at the head of the operating table? Two of Michigan’s leading physician organizations say it should be an anesthesiologist — a physician who is board certified in anesthesiology and best trained to keep you alive when seconds count.
In a new initiative, the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) and Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists (MSA) are warning Michiganders about the dangers of removing anesthesiologists from surgeries and procedures and replacing them with doctors whose primary training is in other specialties.
Together, the groups, which represent nearly 17,000 medical professionals across Michigan, launched a billboard and digital media campaign to highlight this concerning issue. The effort also encourages patients, or their family members, to demand an anesthesiologist is involved in surgery or a medical procedure that requires anesthesia.
“Nine in 10 surgeons say anesthesiologists are the most capable physicians to diagnose and treat life-and-death complications during surgery,” said Tom George, MD, MSMS CEO. “Any attempt to remove anesthesiologists from overseeing the delivery of anesthesia puts a patient’s life at additional, unnecessary risk.”
Both medical groups say anesthesiologists are the physicians best positioned to make life-and-death decisions, respond effectively during a crisis, and prevent patient deaths and complications when patients are under anesthesia. Anesthesiologists typically have at least 12 years of education and medical training, which they draw on to make critical decisions when patients are receiving anesthesia. Even in simple procedures requiring anesthesia, such as a colonoscopy, a patient care team should include an anesthesiologist, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
“If a patient flatlines, has a seizure, heart attack or stroke while under anesthesia, it’s the anesthesiologist who leads the team to save the patient’s life,” said Michael Lewis, MD, MSA president. “Every anesthetic — from light sedation to general anesthesia — carries some degree of risk and requires careful planning and proper administration. That’s why it’s critical for a highly trained physician anesthesiologist to be at the center of the anesthesia care team. No one can replace an anesthesiologist in the moments that matter most, and sidelining these highly trained physicians is short-sighted and irresponsible.”
Removing anesthesiologists from anesthesia care teams fails to lower costs. In most cases, patients are charged the same rate for anesthesia services regardless of whether an anesthesiologist is leading the care team.
Before surgery or a procedure, MSMS and MSA are urging patients to ask, “Will a board-certified anesthesiologist be part of my care team?” Patients’ lives may depend on it.
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