Clinical Services
The Department of Anesthesiology is committed to excellence in clinical service. Our anesthesia care team consists of 46 board-certified anesthesiologists, 51 anesthesiology residents, 5 pain medicine fellows, and 18 nurse anesthetists. The anesthesia care team is assisted by technical and nursing support services provided by the various clinical venues.
Current clinical venues include:
- University Hospital
- Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Administration Hospital
- Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC)
- CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Northwest
- University Center for Pain Medicine
- University Peri-operative Medicine Clinic (UPOMC)
Types of anesthesia services provided include:
- Preoperative evaluations
- General anesthesia
- Regional anesthesia
- Trauma anesthesia
- Cardiac anesthesia
- Transplant anesthesia
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- Obstetric anesthesia
- Neuroanesthesia
- Pediatric anesthesia
- Critical care medicine
- Acute pain management
- Chronic pain management
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Anesthesiology clinical services have expanded significantly in recent years, and we anticipate this trend will continue. While the number of operating room anesthetics have remained virtually flat over the past three years (approximately 21,000), the number of remote site anesthetics has increased by 77%. This is a significant statistic because remote site anesthetics require 1:1 coverage, thus requiring a greater number of anesthesiologists on staff. In addition, surgeries and anesthetics have become more complex over the years, and some cases are longer in duration. This also impacts the number of staff required. The Department is continuously and aggresively recruiting board-certified anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists to fill these clinical needs.
The Department of Anesthesiology is committed to optimum clinical efficiency while maintaining the highest standard of patient care and safety. At University Hospital, the position of Medical Director of Operating Room Efficiency was recently designated, and has been filled by Stacey Allen, M.D., Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology. Dr. Allen’s efforts to improve OR efficiency include analysis of the daily report of efficiency parameters (start times, cut times, etc.) and establishing benchmarks for these parameters. In addition, the Department is participating in a pilot study with the Department of Ophthalmology to determine the efficiency of the dedicated-team approach for some types of surgeries.
The Department of Anesthesiology is committed to electronic medical recordkeeping (EMR). However, automating the anesthesia record has proved very challenging. Our primary clinical venue, University Hospital, is on the verge of acquiring an EMR for the anesthesia record, and we anticipate is implementation by 2009.
For more information concerning clinical services provided by the Department of Anesthesiology please contact the following: