ASA Monitor November 2023, Vol. 87, 36.
ASA members tackle important health care issues on KevinMD.com
In June, Elizabeth Mahanna-Gabrielli, MD, a member of ASA’s Committee on Geriatric Anesthesia, shared advice for hospitalists caring for patients with post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) delirium and for counseling the patient and their family. Dr. Mahanna-Gabrielli said hospitalists should tell patients that PACU delirium is common. She recommended avoiding medications that increase the risk of delirium, such as benzodiazepines and antipsychotics. “With more than 46 million Americans over the age of 65, postoperative delirium is a major public health issue in this vulnerable population, and PACU delirium is an important element of this,” she wrote.
In August, Lalitha V. Sundararaman, MD, FASA, a member of ASA’s Committee on Communications, wrote about how 20%-30% of the annual health care spending in the U.S. is wasted and discussed the causes, including supply chain disruptions and variable pricing of pharmaceuticals. “While we rank #1 in health care expenditure, we are not even in the top 10 in the Health Care Satisfaction Index among nations,” she said.
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