$1.1 billion in annual spending on anesthesia providers during GI procedures may be unnecessary

Anesthesia professionals presence during colonoscopies and other outpatient gastroenterology procedures more than doubled from 2003 to 2009 in the United States, with most of the increase among low-risk patients who may not need their services, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The findings suggest that as much as $1.1 billion spent annually these services may be unnecessary. Researchers also found substantial regional variation in how often anesthesiologists administer sedation during GI procedures, ranging from 13 percent to 59 percent. "The use of anesthesia providers during outpatient GI procedures is growing rapidly, although there is no evidence that most patients are sick enough to justify the extra expense," said Soeren Mattke, the study's senior author. "The growing use of anesthesia providers during GI procedures imposes significant costs on the American health care system at a time when concern is high about the cost of medical care."