skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

IVF clinic bombing should be a security wakeup call for fertility centers, experts say; Illinois is first state to restrict federal access to autism-related data; Virginia ranks in top 10 for lowest rates of deaths on the job; Food security researchers in 20 countries thought they had U.S. funding. Then Trump took office.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Congress debates Medicaid cuts, FBI pledges to investigate missing Indigenous people, Illinois pushes back on federal autism data plan, and deadly bombing in California is investigated as domestic terrorism.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

New Mexico's acequia irrigation system is a model of democratic governance, buying a house in rural America will get harder under the Trump administration's draft 2026 budget, and physicians and medical clinics serving rural America are becoming a rarity.

Could new legislation solve rural TN anesthesiologist shortage?

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 17, 2025   

A bill in the Tennessee General Assembly is reigniting debate over how rural hospitals can staff anesthesia providers. House Bill 979 would address the shortage of anesthesiologists in rural Tennessee by allowing hospitals in counties with fewer than 105,000 residents to directly employ physician anesthesiologists.

Hospitals now have to use third-party anesthesiology services.

Dr. Louis Chemin III, anesthesiologist and physician with Tennessee Anesthesiology Consultants Exchange, supports physician supervision in what's known as the "Anesthesia Care Team" model. He said anyone hired as an anesthesiologist would be required to follow strict medical guidelines.

"Currently under state law, a hospital cannot employ an anesthesiologist, a radiologist, a pathologist or an emergency medicine physician. If this bill were to pass, it would allow hospitals in these rural communities the option to hire an anesthesiologist," he contended.

Chemin said the bill would allow a hospital anesthesiologist to perform anesthesia in one operating room, or to supervise the process in up to four operating rooms.

On Wednesday, the bill passed the House with a vote of 72 to 5, with 11 members "present but not voting." It now heads to the state Senate.

When a physician anesthesiologist provides medical direction to Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists or Anesthesiologist Assistants, Chemin explained, they must comply with seven steps outlined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to qualify for reimbursement under Medicare.

"This law means that if a hospital employs an anesthesiologist, that they must allow the anesthesiologist to practice in a way that is safe and is in agreement with these seven steps," he continued.

Chemin added that these requirements would ensure the anesthesiologist's active involvement in the patient's care and safety.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Florida A&M University, a public historically Black land-grant institution in Tallahassee, was founded in 1887. It is one of the largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities by enrollment and the only public HBCU in Florida. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The selection of Marva Johnson, a longtime corporate executive and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, as the next president of Florida A&M University has …


Environment

play sound

Congress is set to claw back $6.5 billion in climate-related Inflation Reduction Act investments to help pay for the Trump administration's priorities…

Social Issues

play sound

The FBI has said it will add resources in 10 states including New Mexico to tackle unresolved crimes, with a focus on those related to missing and …


Environment

play sound

Washington lawmakers have created a new Prescribed Burn Liability Fund to help make controlled burns less risky on public, private and tribal lands …

Recent scam emails in Indiana have used familiar agency names, including the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, to appear legitimate. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A recent scam using fake Indiana government email addresses is prompting a broader warning to Hoosiers. The messages claimed to involve unpaid tolls …

Social Issues

play sound

A guaranteed income pilot program in Oakland improved housing stability and employment among its recipients, according to a new report from the …

Social Issues

play sound

As Colorado moves to bar Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants from using benefits to buy soda and other sugar sweetened beverages…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021