Message from Picis Leadership

Making the Case for an Anesthesia Information Management System

According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), 65 percent of hospital expenses in the US are associated with perioperative services, where anesthesiologists record much of the care. In an area so crucial to the success (or failure) of a hospital, I’ve seen that an advanced anesthesia information management system (AIMS) is imperative to increase anesthesia charge capture, hospital reimbursement, operational efficiencies and patient throughput. An advanced AIMS also helps clinicians promote patient safety and care quality through heightened documentation quality. Furthermore, an advanced AIMS supports clinical research, quality improvement initiatives and reduces hospital liability risk by providing complete access to the anesthetic record outside of the OR.

In a recent Picis sponsored survey, 62 percent of hospital CIOs surveyed (n = 115) indicated that they plan to purchase an AIMS within the next two years. Approximately 30 percent of the CIOs surveyed indicate that they already have an AIMS. This tells me that strong return on investment results, such as those attained at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center (SNHMC), Nashua, NH, contribute to a trend toward consideration of AIMS adoption nationwide. 

 “SNHMC realized a 73 percent increase in anesthesia facility revenue through billing improvements after implementing Picis Anesthesia Manager. Now the patient record is transmitted electronically at the time of case closure and transmitted immediately to billing, reducing the cycle from days to minutes. This has improved charge capture, which in turn has resulted in a direct reduction in the costs surrounding billing,” says Andrew Watt, MD, CIO/CMIO, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center.

Further supporting the case for an advanced AIMS as an integrated part of a perioperative suite, 62 percent of CIOs surveyed indicated that the need to meet meaningful use objectives is likely to influence their future AIMS purchase. As I recently heard reiterated at “Anesthesiology 2011”, ASA’s annual meeting, the ASA recommends that anesthesiologists “embrace meaningful use,” and recently shared the good news with its members that the majority of anesthesiologists are eligible to receive individual incentive payments for the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). Conversely, if anesthesiologists do not begin to meaningfully use EHRs, Medicare payment penalties will begin in 2015.

Of particular note, when queried about who benefits the most from an AIMS implementation, CIO survey responses were divided equally between the hospital, the anesthesiologists and the patients. This finding indicates that in all likelihood, hospitals advocating for adoption of an advanced AIMS to fill the gap in the perioperative electronic health record will receive strong support from each of these stakeholders.