U.S. Anesthesia Partners Board Member Concludes Term as American Society of Anesthesiologists President

A board member of U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP), a single-specialty physician services organization which offers practice management services to anesthesiologists, will conclude his term as president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) this weekend.

Rep. John Zerwas, MD, a member of the USAP board and founding president of USAPpartner Greater Houston Anesthesiology (GHA), will finish his one-year term as president of the ASA at the organization’s annual conference on Oct. 12-16, in San Francisco, Calif. During his time as ASA president, Dr. Zerwas oversaw the growth of the Anesthesia Quality Institute, a nationwide registry of case data for use by anesthesiologists seeking to assess and improve their patient care.

“The AQI is the only national anesthesia care registry,” Dr. Zerwas says. “It will allow us to evaluate clinical performance quality and drive improvement in a way that is unmatched by other specialties.”

Other ASA efforts furthered under Dr. Zerwas’ leadership include advocacy of a perioperative model that integrates the anesthesiologist at a greater level in to patient care to improve clinical outcomes, and a communications campaign to educate the public about the role of anesthesiologists in patient safety.

Dr. Zerwas, who also serves in the Texas House of Representatives, will transfer his ASA presidency to Jane C.K. Fitch, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Oklahoma.