The specialty of anesthesiology has been a leader for decades in improving patient safety in the OR, advancing a wide range of clinical improvements. Today, the intraoperative period is safer than ever. Yet, postoperative morbidity and mortality rates remain too high, often driven by insufficient preoperative optimization, poor coordination of care, and inefficient health care systems.
With our expertise in pharmacology, physiology, technology, and care coordination, the specialty has an impressive track record of advancing patient care. Addressing the complex issues that negatively impact patient safety in the perioperative period is a critical piece of this effort. Over the past decade-plus, the specialty of anesthesiology has contributed real and meaningful advancements to perioperative medicine, making patient care safer and systems more efficient. Anesthesiology-driven initiatives have tackled issues ranging from length of stay and case cancellations to improving OR efficiency and maximizing case management. And we're not done yet.
The progress made in advancing perioperative medicine to date has been real and meaningful. Now, it is time to take the next step. To drive perioperative medicine forward, ASA's new Center for Perioperative Medicine (CPMed), approved by the ASA Board of Directors in August 2022, is bringing stakeholders together to learn from each other, identify synergies, and elevate coordination. The goal is simple: CPMed aims to advance the field and improve patient safety and the quality of care. But, as we know, getting there is anything but simple.
Functioning as a collaborative platform, CPMed will work to integrate diverse initiatives and enable stakeholder knowledge-sharing and coordination within and beyond ASA. With a focus on the core principles of quality, operations, education, innovation, and advocacy, CPMed will promote the widespread adoption of an interdisciplinary culture of collaboration and care coordination.
How will CPMed accomplish this lofty goal? To begin, CPMed has assembled an impressive roster of participants. We've also prioritized four strategic initiatives (Table). CPMed's Education Workgroup, chaired by Andy Rosenberg, MD, FASA, will create and curate enduring materials. This group will establish a curriculum for the ANESTHESIOLOGY® annual meeting and provide resources to anesthesiologists in the United States and, eventually, across the globe. CPMed's ABA/ACGME Workgroup, chaired by T.J. Gan, MD, FASA, will work toward increasing the perioperative medicine content in the ABA-accepted residency curriculum and an ACGME-accepted fellowship curriculum. Although several institutions currently offer fellowships in perioperative medicine, none are ACGME-approved and they all differ from each other. We expect to learn from those who have already forged a path and collaborate with the ABA and ACGME to identify formalized routes to accomplish this goal. I chair the Perioperative Medicine Stakeholder Workgroup, which will focus on engagement. Engaging stakeholders from within the anesthesiology tent (then, in time, beyond our specialty) is an essential early step. Many groups and organizations have done a tremendous job at moving the field of perioperative medicine forward. They are the pioneers in our field. This workgroup will be convening a Perioperative Medicine Stakeholder Summit at the ASA annual meeting to identify synergies and common goals to help move the topic to the next level. Finally, because we understand the value of industry in the perioperative medicine space, the CPMed Corporate Supporter Strategy Workgroup, chaired by Rob Shakar, MD, FASA, will develop a corporate supporter strategy to identify approaches to engage industry within the Center.
For many ASA members, the first engagement with CPMed may be at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2024. CPMed's Education Workgroup has reviewed over 300 sessions to curate a prioritized list of perioperative medicine-focused education. These 10 sessions will be given the designation of “CPMed Supported Sessions” at the meeting and shared as an enduring product after the event, available on the ASA Education Center. These sessions focus on elevating key issues in perioperative medicine and communicating best practices, trends, and clinical enhancements.
Perioperative medicine has evolved over the past 20 years alongside the specialty of anesthesiology. Great progress has been made on a wide swath of challenging issues. But critical challenges remain – and we must do more. CPMed is designed to accelerate the adoption of perioperative medicine as a distinct aspect of anesthesiology and the adoption of clinical approaches that influence care delivery in the perioperative continuum. It will address the needs of hospital and health system policies and programs, locate synergies between diverse stakeholders, and find alignment on a variety of valuable initiatives. We're excited to launch a bold project to address longstanding issues within the perioperative period, demonstrate the value of anesthesiology, and continue anesthesiology's noble tradition of advancing patient safety.
To learn more about CPMed, visit asahq.org/CPMed.
Maxime Cannesson, MD, PhD, Chair, Center for Perioperative Medicine, and Professor and Chair, University of California, Los Angeles.
Maxime Cannesson, MD, PhD, Chair, Center for Perioperative Medicine, and Professor and Chair, University of California, Los Angeles.
