Practice Management Consulting

About Us

We work with departments, hospitals, and healthcare systems to optimize the strategic, operational, and financial performance of their anesthesia departments. Our consulting team has a unique expertise and proficiency to guide the advancement of your anesthesiology and perioperative medicine clinical practice. Our consortium is a “quadruple threat” – each member is simultaneously a practicing clinical anesthesiologist, a healthcare business executive, a faculty member in a top academic medicine department, and a recognized authority on anesthesia business operations. Our consulting services team has extensive and ongoing expertise as operational and thought leaders in anesthesiology, perioperative, and surgical services operations and management. Our consulting service provides a unique, broad scope, and in-depth analysis, identifying opportunities for improved alignment with hospital and health system goals, improved efficiency and effectiveness of practice, and improved fiscal performance.

	Aman Mahajan, MD, PhD, MBA Peter and Eva Safar Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Senior Vice President of Health Innovation, UPMC Enterprises Executive Director, UPMC Perioperative and Surgical Services Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Biomedical Informatics, and Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Professor of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering Unprecedented leadership experience as Chair of two of the top anesthesiology departments in the nation – UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Innovator, entrepreneur, and founder of three start-ups in the med-tech field
	Mark E. Hudson, MD, MBA UPMC Richard J. Kuwik Endowed Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Executive Vice Chair, Vice Chair for Clinical Operations; and Vice Chair for Clinical Business Development, University of Pittsburgh Physicians, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine Executive Director, Anesthesia Services, UPMC Health System Over 20 years of executive leadership experience at the University of Pittsburgh/UPMC A nationally recognized authority on healthcare business and management Lead mentor of the award winning Pitt/UPMC Practice Management Research Team
	Mitchell H. Tsai, MD, MMM Professor at The Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine, University of Vermont Anesthesiologist, The University of Vermont Medical Center Medical Director, Innovation at hiCOlab Professional reputation as an OR management and operations problem-solver who has built a strong network of connections with thought leaders at UVM Medical Center and beyond

Fast Results

Our feedback is prompt and transformative. Through our unique model for evaluating anesthesiology staffing and anesthesia service demand and through use of readily available surgical services and anesthesiology practice data, we can rapidly develop and benchmark via our practice profile methodology to quickly identify constraints and opportunities within your practice in a cost-effective way. This allows more efficient use of time when an onsite evaluation is necessary. 

Here is just one example of the fast results you can expect from us:

Example Client

• Hospital had previously engaged with a national healthcare consultant group. This high-cost consultancy resulted in a lack of actionable recommendations and within a year, they sought a new review.   

• With limited engagement time and utilizing our review structure and model, and requiring only one day onsite, a final report was delivered including a list of actionable recommendations. 

• Cost was a fraction of previous consultant engagement.

• Implementation of a few key recommendations resulted in > $1.5 million in expense reductions within one year. 

Selected Clients

• University of Southern California

• Wake Forest Baptist Health

• Altoona Regional Health System

• Susquehanna Health System

• Hamot Regional Medical Center

• Passavant Hospital

• Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh

Consulting Specialties - Key Competencies

Anesthesiology Practice Management – Assessment or Development

• Experience in large multi-hospital department management – 22 surgical facilities, >200 MDs, >350 CRNAs, mixed academic/non-academic practice, including pediatric and women’s health specialty practice, large anesthesiology and SRNA training programs

• Effective value-based anesthesia staffing model development

• Evaluation and development of anesthesiology department value proposition

• Extensive understanding of the anesthesiology regulatory environment

• Revenue cycle management, key performance indicators

• Anesthesia quality program evaluation and development

• Anesthesia productivity benchmarking, including productivity profile development by hospital and division

• Anesthesiology performance surveillance metrics

• Multi-hospital anesthesiology department shared resource management

• Academic anesthesiology practice management

• Anesthesiology policy and procedure development

Perioperative Medicine

• ERAS program development

• Anesthesia testing guidelines

• Anesthesia value proposition development

Operating Room Management / Surgical Services Efficiency

• OR rules and regulation development

• OR metrics that matter

• Block schedule allocation and management

• NORA location planning and management

• Driving OR performance

Publications

Please review publications on our academic work in practice management on PubMed.

Additional Papers

Rath S, Rajaram K, Hudson ME, Mahajan A. Multilocation, Dynamic Staff Planning for a Healthcare System: Methodology and Application. SSRN, August 12, 2023.

Grichnik K, Mesrobian J, Szokol JW, Fogarty Mack P, Tsai MH, Schulman S, Hudson ME. Staffing and Efficiency in the OR. ASA Monitor November 2022; 86:24–25

Burke H, Cantees K, Lebovitz E, Hudson ME. Quantifying Provider Team Efficiency and its Relationship to OR Cost and Other OR Metrics. Perioperative Care and Operating Room Management, Volume 32, 2023, 100322, ISSN 2405-6030.

Abstracts

We have presented many award-winning abstracts on our work at the American Society of Anesthesiology ADVANCE Meeting (previously the ASA Practice Management Meeting).

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Contact us

PLEASE NOTE: This form is ONLY for requests regarding practice management consulting and NOT for patient or clinical care. For any patient or clinical care questions or to schedule an appointment, please visit upmc.com.