A substance use disorder (SUD) is a brain disease marked by an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug despite harmful effects.1 According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), SUD criteria include tolerance, craving and inordinate time spent taking or seeking a drug.2 Despite health… Continue reading Anesthetic Drug Abuse by Anesthesia Professionals

Teamwork is central to high-quality medical care. This statement holds even more so for the perioperative setting, in which surgeons, anesthesiologists, primary care and specialty physicians collaborate in order to decide on and subsequently deliver essential care to the patient. In dialogue on the perioperative cycle, it is oft-assumed that analysis ends when the patient… Continue reading Anesthesiologists and Hospitalists: Collaboration in the Perioperative Cycle

Tracking and billing anesthesia time is a complicated process, the responsibility for which rests primarily on the anesthesiologist. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ 2019 Relative Value Guide, billable anesthesia time begins at the start of the anesthesia service and continues until the operation is completed. In effect, this means that anesthesia time runs… Continue reading Anesthesia Times and Billing Patterns

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure in which small electric currents pass through the brain, intentionally triggering a short seizure.1 ECT causes changes in neurons’ electrical and chemical signaling, and it can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental health conditions.1 This form of therapy has been accompanied by decades of stigma, given its uses in… Continue reading Anesthesia for Electroconvulsive Therapy