A recent article from Becker’s ASC Review highlights a deepening workforce crisis in anesthesia, a challenge that’s increasingly reshaping operations, billing, and financial outcomes for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and anesthesia provider groups. The Nature of the Crisis
The U.S. anesthesia workforce is aging rapidly and shrinking. Nearly 30% of anesthesiologists are projected to leave practice by 2033. Many CRNAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists), who make up a large share of providers in rural and outpatient settings, are also being lost to retirement or leaving the field. Meanwhile, demand for anesthesia services is growing, as ASCs expand case volume and procedural complexity.
How Shortages Impact Revenue and Operations
This staffing pressure shows up in tangible ways:
- Escalating labor costs: To attract and retain scarce anesthesia providers, many ASCs have increased wages or turned to expensive temporary staffing.
- Cancelled or delayed cases: When anesthesia coverage isn’t available, ASCs have had to close OR rooms or push back scheduled procedures, directly affecting throughput and revenue.
- Under-utilized block time and lower volumes: Unpredictable staffing leads to inefficiency in OR scheduling and planning, which erodes surgical volume and undermines profitability.
- Long-term growth and expansion at risk: Some centers are pausing expansion plans, reevaluating service lines, or shifting to staffing models that may compromise future growth potential.
Physician-anesthesia leaders in the Becker’s piece describe this as a partly “manufactured crisis”: not only the result of workforce shortages, but also of structural inefficiencies, rising pay pressures, and a fragmented staffing model that strains ASC finances.
How Cosentus Helps Providers Navigate This Crisis
In the face of these pressures, ASC operators and anesthesia groups need more than just staffing—they need smarter revenue-cycle orchestration. That’s where Cosentus steps in:
- End-to-end billing & coding support for multi-site anesthesia groups and ASCs, ensuring clean claim submission and optimized reimbursement even when staffing models are complex.
- Analytics for case volume, payer mix, and provider productivity, giving leaders the data they need to make staffing and operational decisions with confidence.
- Operational support that frees up clinical leadership time, allowing them to focus on recruiting, training, and retaining staff, instead of firefighting billing errors or denials.
In a period where staffing shortages threaten scheduling, margins, and long-term growth, Cosentus helps providers protect revenue and maintain financial stability.
