Anesthesiology is a medical specialty that makes continuing improvement in patient safety, focuses on the critical role of the anesthesiologist in the surgery team, and is critically affected by federal legislation, regulations, and requirement. Increasing awareness and knowledge in these areas and learning how to develop goals to incorporate this information is the major emphasis of the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists. The effort by physicians to minimize the amount of general anesthesia given and to maximize patient recovery time has led to a new emphasis on regional anesthesia. Already, this new field is yielding strong initial results in allowing patients to recover more quickly from major surgeries. Most anesthesiologists are called into emergency medicine settings, and new federal guidelines are causing anesthesiologists to struggle with what type of medication to use and what steps will be used to determine whether an ambulatory pediatric patient will remain ambulatory. The use of new drugs and more demanding surgeries in a time of a rapidly aging population are causing a wide range of risks for anesthesiologists, risks that must be directly addressed. In addition, there are many dangers to patients in major operations, including major kidney damage, an area of high interest and concern for anesthesiologists. Recent debates over federal legislation and guidelines, incoming federally mandated and third-party payer “pay-for-performance” standards (and their impact on patient safety), and federal and state guidelines concerning enhanced patient care through the use of detailed health information record systems, including anesthesia informatics, will also be a vital part of the meeting.
