Dear Senator Theis:
I am a Washtenaw County physician responsible for the care and treatment of patients in and around the 22nd District. As a member of the frontline, I know that every health care and health policy discussion in Lansing should start and end with what’s best for Michigan patients. Unfortunately, House Bill 4359 in its current form is not in the best interest of patients, and that is why your vote against it is so critical.
The best health care is provided by a physician-led team. House Bill 4359 would dismantle the health care team by allowing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) to practice medicine independently without any physician leadership and guidance. Here are some examples of why this legislation puts patients directly in danger:
- A physician anesthesiologist receives four years of graduate education while a nurse anesthetist receives two to three years of graduate education.
- A physician anesthesiologist completes four to six years of residency, fellowship, and training. Nurse anesthetists are not required to complete any residency or fellowship.
- On average, physician anesthesiologists complete 12,000 – 16,000 hours of clinical patient care in their curriculum. Nurse anesthetists complete approximately 2,500 hours of patient care training in their curriculum.
Every anesthetic, no matter how simple it may seem, carries risks, including brain damage and death. And every anesthetic, from a “light sedation” to the drug-induced coma of general anesthesia, requires careful planning and proper administration by a physician-led Anesthesia Care Team to see a patient safely through the procedure from beginning to end.
While physicians have strong concerns with this proposal, so do our patients. In a recent survey conducted by EPIC-MRA from March 11-16, it was found that Michigan voters solidly oppose any efforts to remove the current provisions in state law that require physicians to supervise the administration of anesthesia in surgical procedures. When asked, if voters or their family members must undergo a surgical procedure in the future that required anesthesia to be administered, and the medical facility did not have a physician anesthesiologist on site, a 64 percent majority would prefer to have anesthesia administered by a nurse anesthetist supervised by an attending physician, with only 10 percent saying they would prefer having anesthesia administered by a nurse anesthetist who was NOT supervised by an attending physician.
When physician anesthesiologists and anesthetists work together as a team, patients receive high-quality and safe anesthesia care. House Bill 4359 only breaks up that team, providing silos of care, and leaves patients at risk. Please vote NO on House Bill 4359 and preserve safe anesthesia care.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Your Name and Title
