Improving Health for All Patients

As medical doctors with deep experience in perioperative and maternal care, and with a unique role in the health care system, anesthesiologists are in a strong position to help hospitals close gaps in patient outcomes related to race, geography, and other factors.

Addressing Health Care Disparities Through Perioperative Care

Many medical conditions disproportionally affect certain populations, such as low-income individuals, people with a low level of formal education, and historically marginalized racial and ethnic populations. Often, these disparities arise from insufficient access to health care, which can leave the conditions undetected or untreated. Anesthesiologists are well positioned to mitigate the consequences of unequal access to diagnosis and care because of their involvement with patients before and after surgery. Through their leadership in initiatives like the Perioperative Surgical Home and Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, they help close the equity gap in the provision of health care.

Closing Gaps in Maternal Mortality

Research has shown that maternal mortality rates are higher among low-income populations and among historically marginalized racial and ethnic populations, especially Black women. Obstetric anesthesiologists help reduce these rates by working to prevent maternal deaths from cardiovascular disease, embolic disease, preeclampsia, postpartum hemorrhage, sepsis, and other conditions.

As experts in critical and emergency care, anesthesiologists are best equipped to assume leadership roles in the arena of patient safety and make the management of maternal health more proactive by:

• Working closely with obstetricians to identify pregnant patients at increased risk for complications and ensure that an anesthesiologist is involved in planning their care from the earliest stages of pregnancy.
• Leading efforts to make doctors and nurses aware of the early warning signs of a problem—including changes in heart rate, blood pressure, urine output, oxygen saturation, and state of mind—and of the need to seek immediate help from an anesthesiologist.

Providing Pain Management for Everyone

Studies show that health care providers often overlook or dismiss pain in some historically marginalized populations, especially Black populations. Anesthesiologists are key to addressing this issue because of their expertise in pain management. Some anesthesiologists who specialize in managing chronic pain have taken on roles in newly established centers for sickle cell anemia. This condition causes mild to severe episodes of pain and is most common in the United States among people with African ancestry or who identify themselves as Black.

Read the ASA health equity backgrounder to learn more about the ways anesthesiologists help close equity gaps.

Close Equity Gaps at Your Institution

Tap into the knowledge, expertise, and leadership of anesthesiologists to close equity gaps at your hospital and ensure that all patients have the opportunity to benefit from an anesthesiologist’s involvement in their perioperative care.

Contact us to get in touch with an anesthesiologist at your institution.