Seamless Multi-Hospital Anesthesia Department Transition

Delivering 100% Retention & 95% Satisfaction Scores in Orange County, CA

Situation

Surgical procedures are a hospital’s primary revenue engine, and surgery depends on anesthesia services. Even when a change of anesthesia providers is needed, it can be disruptive to surgeons, patients, and hospital operations. In this competitive healthcare marketplace, smooth anesthesia department transitions are critical to short- and long-term success. A good partner will solve for clinical staffing and add value through business intelligence, operational understanding, quality improvement measures, and a strong focus on creating excellent patient experiences.

Problem

When the anesthesia provider serving four Southern California hospitals exited the market, the health system urgently needed a new partner. This was the second anesthesia transition in just a few years, raising the stakes for leadership to find a solution that could deliver stability, trust, and growth.

During the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, hospital administrators identified the need for an anesthesia partner that:

• Provides in-network billing, with full transparency into service fees
• Brings deep expertise, data, and resources to assess staffing, facility costs, case mix, and service line revenue at each site
• Delivers comprehensive analysis to identify and act on operational efficiency and optimization opportunities

In selecting a new anesthesia provider, transition change management is also critical. Seamless transitions depend on leadership that has the strong track record of retaining and recruiting clinicians and quickly building a collaborative culture.

Solution

At the helm of this transition was Wynnson Tom, MD, NAPA’s Area Vice President for Southern California, who had a long local presence in Orange County. “What set NAPA apart in the RFP process was our ability to engage with the chairs on a broader level. We did not just focus on anesthesia; we explored the full scope of perioperative challenges. We used data to evaluate staffing models, facility fees, and case mix strategy to identify what truly drives value. While our competitors looked narrowly at staffing, we helped leaders think bigger about performance, costs, and long-term impact,” said Dr. Tom.

Hospital administrators knew that NAPA could provide appropriate and reliable anesthesia staffing; could analyze cost benefits and operational efficiency; and brought four decades of single-specialty anesthesia experience, scale, and data to provide evidence-based guidance on service lines and operating room (OR) utilization.

Reputation & Relationships Drive Engagement & Service 

In managing more than 170 anesthesia department transitions, NAPA regional leaders have developed a proven blueprint to minimize disruption and maximize effective integrations. 

We know that implementing smooth transitions starts with building strong relationships:

• Throughout this accelerated transition in Orange County, NAPA’s local leadership and highly experienced transition experts were a phone call away, and more often on-site, meeting with each of the hospital’s 60 anesthesiologists and anesthesia chiefs to ensure they felt informed and supported
• Hospital administrators were kept well-informed about recruitment, credentialing, policies, and procedures
• The week of the go-live, NAPA hosted a well-attended meet-and-greet event to further strengthen connections with the transitioning clinicians 

NAPA’s frequent and transparent communications are designed to eliminate surprises and foster seamless, turnkey change management that quickly instills confidence in our people and processes. From the first day of the transition, and throughout our service relationship, our regular messaging is proactive, honest, constructive, and data led.

Building on our reputation and nurturing local anesthesia clinicians proved to be highly effective in NAPA’s retention and recruitment efforts at these four Southern California hospitals. To meet the request for an expedited transition timeline, we deployed NAPA’s multipronged staffing strategies to ensure that all ORs would be fully staffed on day one of our service contract.

Within three weeks of our engagement, every current anesthesia clinician across the four hospitals had signed with NAPA, and any additional vacancies were quickly filled by talented anesthesiologists.

As a hospital partner, we are focused on enhancing the facility’s productivity and profitability with consistency and longevity. Within months of completing our transition, NAPA enabled the hospitals to open five new ORs. Today, NAPA’s staffing across these hospitals remains strong, operations are optimized, and service levels consistently deliver a 95% patient experience score. In a recent surgeon satisfaction survey, NAPA also earned a 95% satisfaction rating from its surgical peers, underscoring sustained excellence from both clinical and operational perspectives.

“What stood out most was NAPA’s presence. They weren’t just a vendor handing off a plan. Their people were here, engaging with our teams, addressing concerns, and creating real alignment from the start. That kind of collaboration set the tone for a successful partnership.”

— Randy Rogers, MBA, MHA, FACHE CEO, UCI Health – Fountain Valley

Let’s Connect | 833-OR1-TEAM | Solutions@NAPAanesthesia.com