FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE:MD), a national health solutions partner specializing in neonatal and other pediatric services, anesthesiology, radiology, pediatric cardiology and other physician and management services, today announced that MEDNAX-affiliated anesthesiologist William Buhrman, M.D. was named a “Physician of Excellence” in enhanced recovery after surgery implementation, the first U.S. anesthesiologist to receive this honor from the ERAS^® Society.

Optimizing the Perioperative Process

The key factors that prolong a patient’s hospital stay include the need for pain medication, excessive intravenous fluids and lack of early mobilization. Enhanced recovery after surgery is a multimodal perioperative care pathway designed to address these key factors and optimize the perioperative process through evidence-based best practices, and to provide a roadmap to help clinicians work collaboratively to ensure optimal care. It’s also validated by a centralized audit of outcomes.

Enhanced recovery programs address the goals of the Institute for Health Improvement’s Triple Aim – to improve outcomes, enhance the patient experience and reduce the per capita cost of health care by achieving early recovery for patients undergoing major surgery. Because of this alignment, these programs are gaining traction in the United States across multiple surgical service lines.

“The enhanced recovery after surgery initiative is a team effort that requires buy-in and active participation from the entire perioperative team, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, CRNAs and the patient,” said Dr. Buhrman, who spearheads the ERAS program and is an anesthesiologist with Southeast Anesthesia Consultants, the MEDNAX affiliate, practicing at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Charlotte, N.C. “We worked in partnership with the surgeons and administration at CMC, in particular Dionisios Vrochides, M.D. who led the surgery team and was integral to achieving our successful outcomes.”

Dr. Buhrman will be presenting on the program and its results at Anesthesiology 2016, the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in October.

Enhanced Recovery Results

MEDNAX launched its Enhanced Recovery After Surgery/Perioperative Surgical Home Task Force in 2015, and through its Southeast Anesthesia Consultants practice played an integral role in launching the ERAS Society-based program in the Hepato-Pancreato-Billary (HPB) surgery unit at Carolinas Medical Center. The recognition of Dr. Buhrman as an “ERAS Physician of Excellence,” acknowledges the program’s outcomes as provided by CMC, which include:

• 15% reduction in length of stay
• 12% decrease in readmissions
• Reduction of the infection rate to a current rate of zero

In addition to Dr. Burhman, MEDNAX-affiliated anesthesiologist Jay Iaconetti, M.D. is leading the enhanced recovery after surgery initiative in partnership with Fairfax Colon and Rectal Surgery Group at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Va. The practice cares for 300-350 colorectal surgical patients per year under the program. Based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scoring system, the team at Fairfax has seen an increase in patient satisfaction and a decline in length of stay for colorectal patients by one full day. Additionally, outcomes data show that patients eat sooner after surgery, require narcotics less frequently after surgery, and have lower post-operative nausea, vomiting and other symptoms.

Next Steps

MEDNAX’s current network of 45 anesthesia practices will be looking at ways to implement this meaningful initiative. MEDNAX-affiliated anesthesiologists, including Dr. Iaconetti and Dr. Roy Soto, are well-regarded experts on the topic; in fact, Dr. Soto spoke at the ERAS Society’s Joint World Congress, Anesthesia Section, in Washington, D.C., in 2015.

“Enhanced recovery after surgery represents a paradigm shift in perioperative care in two ways,” said Rich Gilbert, M.D. who serves as Chief Medical Officer of MEDNAX’s Eastern Division and was the CEO of Southeast Anesthesia Consultants. “First, by implementing evidence based best practice protocols across a given surgical type, there is a reduction in variability, improved outcomes and in turn lower cost of care. Second, it is comprehensive in its scope, covering all areas of the patient’s journey through the perioperative process.

“From a national perspective, the enhanced recovery program is just one of many initiatives our affiliated practices implement to take great care of patients. They continue to develop and offer solutions to our hospital partners across the country that address the transformation of the U.S. health system toward value-based health care.”

ABOUT MEDNAX

MEDNAX, Inc. is a national health solutions partner comprised of the nation's leading providers of physician services. Physicians and advanced practitioners practicing as part of MEDNAX are reshaping the delivery of care within their specialties and subspecialties, using evidence-based tools, continuous quality initiatives, clinical research and telemedicine to enhance patient outcomes and provide high-quality, cost-effective care. The Company was founded in 1979, and today, through its affiliated professional corporations, MEDNAX provides services through a network of more than 3,400 physicians in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. In addition to its national physician network, MEDNAX provides services to healthcare facilities and physicians in over 40 states through two complementary businesses, consisting of a revenue cycle management company and a consulting services company. Additional information is available at www.mednax.com.

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