Effect of opt-out policy for physician supervision of anesthesia

Editor's Note

Opting out of the Medicare rule that requires anesthesia to be administered with physician supervision has little or no effect on access to inpatient or outpatient surgery, this study finds.

The researchers also found that opting out does not reduce costs, and in fact increases costs for inpatient surgery by 8.7%.

The rationale cited by most states that opted out of the policy was increased patient access to anesthesia.

The findings show that before new policies or rules are passed, the potential effects should first be rigorously studied, the authors say. 

In 2001, the U.S. government released a rule that allowed states to "opt-out" of the federal requirement that a physician supervise the administration of anesthesia by a nurse anesthetist. To date, 17 states have opted out. The majority of the opt-out states cited increased access to anesthesia care as the primary rationale for their decision.