INSIGHT: Proposal looks into changing model of care for veterans

There is a proposed change over how veterans get anesthesia if they need surgery. The Department of Veterans Affairs current system includes a doctor working with an anesthetist nurse to provide anesthesia care. It’s been like that for decades, but it varies by state and VA officials want to know if a National Standard of Care would better care for veterans. “What’s being proposed is to remove the physician from that team. So, that it would be a nurse anesthetist practicing independent of any physician oversight. That is a model that’s rarely used in this country and we feel puts our veterans at unnecessary risk,” said Dr. Ronald L. Harter – president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.