Professional anesthesia services are provided by HMC Anesthesia Services. The members of the group have served HMC for the last fourteen years and have set quality anesthesia care as their primary objective.
HMC Anesthesia provides 24-hour coverage for the anesthesia needs of the patients of the medical center. HMC Anesthesia Services bills its professional services separately from the hospital.
Anesthesia has progressed over the years to become safer than ever in the management of surgical and obstetrical care. There is a very low instance of major complications associated with anesthesia. Patient participation in formulating an anesthesia plan is a key element to patient satisfaction.
Health history, medications, prior anesthetic experiences, and surgical site are important to the formulation of an anesthetic plan. Your surgeon should counsel you on what his needs are relative to the surgical procedure. If there are no indications for one specific anesthetic choice, a patient may be given an opportunity to express a personal desire.
Anesthetics are classified as General, Intravenous Conscious Sedation, Regional, Spinal Conduction (Epidural or Spinal), or Local.
- General anesthesia is the rendering of a patient insensible to pain. This is accomplished with intravenous and inhalation medications.
- Intravenous conscious sedation is the administration of medications to produce a "twilight" sleep where a patient is easily aroused but is not experiencing pain or anxiety.
- Regional anesthesia utilizes local anesthetics applied to extremities or segments of the body enervated by major nerve plexuses.
- Spinal Conduction anesthesia is local anesthetic agents administered into the epidural space or into the spinal fluid space.
- Local anesthesia involves small, easily anesthetized areas infiltrated with local anesthetic medications.
In addition to surgical and obstetrical care, HMC Anesthesia Services offers pain management services when ordered by physicians.
Patients coming to HMC for surgical and anesthesia care can be assured that they will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity and will be afforded the best standard of care. A recent patient care satisfaction survey showed an overwhelming degree of well-defined satisfaction with every aspect of care given at HMC. The department has an active quality assurance plan in place to identify and assess any potential for improvement within the department. Our patient safety and infection control processes are constantly reviewed and refined in an effort to provide the safest environment possible.
Patient process is something of great interest to most individuals coming for outpatient surgical care. At HMC the mechanism varies by physician but has a generally standard course as follows:
- Scheduling of procedure by your physician
- Pre-certification of the surgery or procedure if one is needed (This may alter when and if the procedure is a covered procedure under your insurance policy.)
- Pre-admission to the hospital for a particular surgical date
- Pre-admission testing and interview with surgical services and anesthesia to discuss anesthesia plan and to define any health risks known to you
- Admission on the surgical day to the Ambulatory Surgical Outpatient Department
- Interview with anesthesia if not already performed or if there are changes in your health status
- Surgery or procedure as planned by you and your physician
If we have done our job to your satisfaction, you will continue to come to us for your healthcare needs. This is the end to which we strive. You and your family are our most important customers, and quality healthcare delivered in a friendly and community-oriented manner is our most important product.