Physician-led Care: Safe, High-quality, Team-based

Your voice is important to resolve the issues below

Why This Matters

As medical doctors and leaders of the Anesthesia Care Team, anesthesiologists ensure the safest and best outcomes for all patients. That’s why laws in 45 states and the policies of the nation’s top hospitals require physician-led anesthesia care. Nursing special interest groups are seeking to replace anesthesiologists in the care of patients and dismantle the Anesthesia Care Team. Removing anesthesiologists from care raises risks for patients without expanding health care access or reducing costs.

Learn more about attempts to undermine physician-led anesthesia care and what ASA is doing about them.

Key Issues That Impact You

What ASA is Doing For You

Ways we are helping to protect the anesthesia specialty

• ASA has a team of ASA physician leaders and professional lobbyists that work jointly with ASA’s powerful key contact and grassroots program to preserve physician-led care and the Anesthesia Care Team in Washington, DC. The team’s efforts are focused on the U.S. Congress and various federal agencies and their work on federal legislation and regulations. The preservation of the Medicare supervision requirement and the defeat of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs nurses’ efforts to replace anesthesiologists with nurse anesthetists are top ASA advocacy priorities.
• Similarly, ASA has a team of ASA physician leaders and a staff of attorneys who work in partnership with ASA state societies and their members to defeat state CRNA legislative and regulatory efforts to undermine anesthesiologists and physician-led care. Over the past two years, the team has worked jointly with states to defeat over a dozen nurse special-interest bills targeted at removing anesthesiologists from the care of patients. At the same time, ASA has supported multiple state societies in the successful enactment of legislation to protect medical titles and to expand practice opportunities for certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAA). The State Affairs team regularly provides component leaders and members with expert strategic, legislative, public relations, regulatory and legal guidance and support. Through ASA, supplemental funding is made available to states engaged in legislative, regulatory and legal battles.

What You Can Do Now

Actions you can take today to protect your specialty

• Access facts and background information about AANA’s history of misrepresentations (PDF).
• Access talking points and FAQs for use in conversations with your nurse anesthetist colleagues (PDF).
• Read our open letter to nurse anesthetists.
• Share your story about how your role as a physician anesthesiologist was critical to the care of a patient.
• Access our patient communication toolkit ›
• Learn strategies to engage your C-suite ›
• Make sure policymakers get the message ›

Dive into these resources to better understand how anesthesiologists like you are problem solving and advancing the specialty.

Explore Additional Resources

Informational Materials

• Physician Anesthesiologists Fast Facts
• ASA Statement on the Anesthesia Care Team
• The Effect of “Opt-out” Regulation on Access to Surgical Care for Urgent Cases in the United States: Evidence from the National Inpatient Sample
• In the United States, “Opt-Out” States Show No Increase in Access to Anesthesia Services for Medicare Beneficiaries Compared with Non–“Opt-Out” States
• Assessing the impact of state “opt-out” policy on access to and costs of surgeries and other procedures requiring anesthesia services
• “Opt out” and access to anesthesia care for elective and urgent surgeries among U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries

Date of last update: October 6, 2023