With new responsibilities come new challenges and new opportunities. As today's anesthesia practices come to terms with this new environment, they are learning that they must redefine and restructure their practices. In other words, they must redefine their value proposition.
Priority Through Action
According to one source, a value proposition is a statement—often used in marketing—that summarizes why consumers should choose a particular product or service, highlighting the specific benefits it delivers. It clearly explains how a product fulfills a need and why it stands out from competitors. It should entail "a clear, simple statement of the benefits, both tangible and intangible." This concise message is essential in attracting customers and maintaining an entity's competitive advantage.
The significance of a value proposition for a medical group lies in its formulation and articulation. Formulating an appropriate and relevant value proposition requires a careful assessment of the practice's strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. It must be a statement of conviction that focuses and empowers the providers. As Ghandi used to say, “actions express priorities.” In the same way, provider behavior and performance must reflect the focus and intention of the organization.
The Five Ways
The 13th-century theologian and philosopher Thomas Acquinas listed five proofs or “ways,” as he called it, in propounding his cosmological arguments. Similarly, there are five elements to be considered when it comes to a useful value proposition. They are as follows:
- Quality of anesthesia care must be the number one priority. This is typically defined in terms of consistency of care. Practices should monitor and evaluate outliers and exceptions aggressively. Individual provider performance should be a subject of regular practice discussion.
- Customer service has become the new administration priority. In today's competitive medical environment, every patient should have a positive and memorable surgical experience. Anesthesia plays a critical role here in setting expectations and managing results, but communication with the rest of the OR team is the key to effective patient management.
- Communication with administration is an essential element of good customer service. It used to be that the key members of a practice would only meet with administration when it was time to renegotiate the service agreement. This represented a very narrow view of the opportunity to partner with administration. Regular communication serves many roles. Administrators are always interested in the financial health of the anesthesia practice, especially if there is a subsidy involved. It allows the practice to share potential staffing challenges and discuss options. Staffing and scheduling issues always require regular communication.
- Data sharing creates powerful opportunities for value. Anesthesia practices often hold the most accurate and detailed information about what truly happens in the OR—data that even facilities may lack. This makes the anesthesia database a strategic asset for improving OR utilization and guiding administrative decisions. By leveraging this data, anesthesia teams can identify top-performing surgeons, understand clinical activity patterns and uncover opportunities to boost productivity. When shared effectively, this insight drives smarter scheduling, better resource allocation and measurable efficiency gains across the surgical environment.
- Committee involvement should be maximized so that the practice takes advantage of its ability to influence administrative planning and decision-making.
Ultimately, the objective of every practice should be to convince its customers, i.e., the healthcare facilities, that it is an effective business, committed to providing an optimum service solution that enhances the customers’ competitive advantage in the market. The group’s value proposition should reflect these priorities.