April 05, 2022
The Anesthesia Care Team (ACT) model aims to reduce surgical wait times by drawing upon the skills of respiratory therapists (RT). AHS claims having a RT perform certain tasks traditionally performed by an anesthesiologist allows anesthesiologists to extend care to more patients and increase access to timely surgeries. Under the ACT pilot, an anesthesiologist can oversee two or three surgeries with the support of one RT providing anesthesia service in each room. This differs from the current structure, in which an RT would support an anesthesiologist by providing anesthesia service during procedures only. The ACT model is already in place in B.C., Man. and Ont.