How One Anesthesia Group Tackled the Changes in Healthcare While Maintaining Their Independence

Where I practiced, at Group Anesthesia Services (GAS), in Los Gatos, Calif., we had been trying to figure out how to deal with these changes while respecting the values upon which our group was founded: autonomy, ownership and quality.

Like many anesthesiology groups, GAS had been struggling with how to adapt to the changing healthcare environment. We spent a significant amount of time talking to fellow Northern California anesthesiology groups, meeting with investment bankers, and speaking with consolidation firms as we tried to find a solution that addressed both the increasingly complex facets of current day practice management and our core values.

As we worked on how best to deal with the changes in healthcare, we realized that any solution would not only have to be effective for the problems we are facing (and will face in the future), but would also have to support the values that, as a group, create our identity and history. Therefore, a key part of any solution would be the preservation of our independence, the continuity of the concept of “our practice in our community” and the quality of our care that creates the pride in our work.

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