Success Story: Parma Community General Hospital, OH
“As soon as we partnered with
Premier Anesthesia, we were able
to jointly refocus our efforts on
service. ”’
Pamela Falasco, RN, MSN, Vice President, Surgery and Business Development
Symptoms
Dissatisfied surgeons
Lack of communication among anesthesia and OR teams
Slow operating room turnaround
Outcomes
Increased surgeon satisfaction
Improved communication among anesthesia and OR teams
Faster and consistent operating room turnaround times
Expanded anesthesia services
Problem
Parma Community General Hospital is a 348-bed, independent and leading healthcare institution
situated in a suburb of Cleveland, OH that runs 12 ORs and specializes in a full range of surgical
procedures. Parma Hospital was ranked by Solucient Institute as one of the Top 100 Hospitals in
the nation overall for cardiac care, and received national recognition for ranking among the top 5
percent of hospitals for joint replacement surgery. However, Parma’s anesthesia department was
lacking elements that would allow it to continue to achieve those recognitions. Although hospital
administrators were satisfied with the clinical expertise of their anesthesia providers, they felt a
strong need for improvement in areas like leadership, business structure, communication and teamwork.
However, resistance and lack of support from several principle voting members made it a
challenge to implement any changes..
Solution
With the support of Parma Hospital’s executive board, Pamela Falasco, RN, MSN, Vice President,
Surgery and Business Development, searched for a contract management group that would partner
with Parma’s anesthesia department to achieve their goals. Parma administrators chose Premier
Anesthesia. “We were most impressed with the opportunity to partner with a group that was prepared
to work with us to design the anesthesia services that we envisioned,” Falasco said.
Building on the existing foundation of Parma’s anesthesia department, Premier developed and
implemented a service-oriented model to cater to its three sets of customers: the patient, the surgeon
and the nursing staff. The model included key administrators’ goals for on-time starts,
minimizing room turnover time, offering new services and improving communication among staff,
and also defined several key areas vital to the improvement and growth of Parma’s anesthesia
department, including:
Clear and consistent communication between anesthesia providers and OR staff
Professional, service-oriented anesthesia providers with exceptional clinical expertise
A redefined approach to surgeon satisfaction
Strengthened anesthesia leadership and enhanced provision of anesthesia services
Resources for expanding anesthesia services
Result
Since the inception of Premier’s service-oriented model Parma’s anesthesia department has experienced
significant improvements in surgical services and unparalleled growth in anesthesia services.
Falasco notes, “As soon as we partnered with Premier Anesthesia we were able to jointly refocus our
efforts on service. We retained all but one of our current providers which made for a smooth transition
to our newly adopted model.” Premier helped make goals set by Parma administrators a reality:
OR turnaround times have decreased and now remain consistent
Improvement in on-time case starts
Improved service and communication resulting in increased surgeon satisfaction, and in some specialties, increased surgical volume
New and expanded anesthesia services
Under the leadership of a new medical director, Vincent Franczek, MD, the OR and perioperative
teams have witnessed improved OR efficiency as well as consistent, positive communication
between the anesthesia and OR nursing teams. Chief of Surgery and vascular surgeon James
Persky offers his perspective: “With Premier I witnessed a pleasant and smooth transition and
everything was in place from day one. They are extremely attentive to my needs and any issues with
personnel are managed and resolved in a timely and professional manner. I am pleased to be working
with top-quality anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists.” continued
The addition of three anesthesiologists allowed Parma Hospital to expand its anesthesia services,
including regional acute pain blocks, and grow the existing Chronic Pain Management Program,
which now draws patients on a regional basis. Patients of Parma Hospital describe their service as“seamless.” Surgical wait times have lessened and overall patient satisfaction with OR services has
significantly improved.
For Falasco and her fellow administrators at Parma
Community General Hospital, Premier Anesthesia proved to
be a viable solution. “From an administrative perspective, I
am able to focus my efforts on the growth of the surgical
product line and I feel confident that Premier is managing
the provision of top-quality anesthesia services,” she says.
Premier's financial model provided a plan for increasing OR profits through anesthesia management services. Premier manages all recruiting, billing and collections while maintaining frequent reporting and site meetings. As a result, the anesthesia team provides better care to a larger number of patients — and Baptist Health has become increasingly profitable and well-renowned for high-quality anesthesia services.
