Medical centers, hospitals and other similar venues generally need to review the different services they offer to their patients to determine if they add value in some way. Some services may be used to improve the overall patient experience. Others may be used to improve the physicians’ efforts at serving and treating patients, and still others may be in place for cost-savings or for other benefits. When you look at anesthesia services, you may be wondering if it is worthwhile to have in-house services or to outsource this work to a third party service provider. There are a few points to consider to make this determination.
There are many types of anesthesia that may be used for various types of procedures. Issues such as the patient’s health status, the length of time the surgery will take and the amount of pain or discomfort that the patient may otherwise be in during and after the procedure are just a few of the factors that will determine the need. When services are needed sporadically in your venue, outsourcing the work may be more cost-effective. However, if your venue regularly performs services that require anesthesia, it is often more cost-effective to have in-house staff. This gives you greater access to the service and greater control over the cost of services. Containing costs is important for the overall patient experience as well, but keep in mind that in-house services may add employee costs, billing costs and more to your budget.
The Flexibility for Scheduling Services
While you may want to contain costs with anesthesia services, you may also benefit from having the flexibility to control anesthesia service scheduling in-house. Consider, for example, that you may have a main scheduling center for surgical procedures that will ensure that nursing staff, anesthesia professionals and others are available for the scheduled operations and surgical procedures. When you use off-site or contract services, your staff members must then coordinate with another office to ensure that anesthesia services are available when needed. This takes additional time and effort, and it decreases productivity.