Selection 10 min read

Best EHR for Anesthesiology Groups (2026 Buyer Guide)

Anesthesiology groups operate across multiple facilities, document under extreme time pressure, and depend on accurate time-based billing. A poorly chosen EHR creates documentation gaps that directly translate to lost revenue and compliance exposure. This guide covers what to prioritize before you sign.

What Anesthesiology Groups Need That General EHR Buyers Miss

  • Pre-operative assessment workflows that pull surgical scheduling data and patient history automatically
  • Intra-operative anesthesia record documentation with real-time vitals capture and medication logging
  • Accurate start/stop time tracking for time-based anesthesia billing units
  • MACRA/MIPS quality measure reporting with anesthesia-specific measure sets built in
  • Multi-facility deployment where providers rotate across hospitals, ASCs, and office-based surgery centers

Procurement Criteria for Anesthesiology

1. Pre-op assessment and surgical scheduling integration

The EHR must pull the surgical schedule, patient history, and relevant labs into a pre-operative assessment view without manual data entry. Demo a realistic scenario where the anesthesiologist reviews three consecutive cases. If the system requires toggling between modules or re-entering patient data, it will not survive a real OR day.

2. Intra-operative anesthesia record

Anesthesia records require continuous documentation of vitals, medications, fluids, and airway management. Evaluate whether the system captures data from physiologic monitors or requires manual entry. The anesthesia record must produce a complete, audit-ready document that supports both clinical handoff and billing without post-case cleanup.

3. Time-based billing accuracy

Anesthesia reimbursement depends on precise start and stop times mapped to base units and time units. The EHR should calculate anesthesia units automatically from documented times, apply the correct conversion factors by payer, and flag cases where time documentation is incomplete before claim submission. Manual time calculations are a reliable source of revenue leakage.

4. MACRA/MIPS quality reporting

Anesthesia-specific MIPS measures include perioperative temperature management, multimodal pain management, and patient safety indicators. The system must capture structured data elements during the case to support automated quality reporting. If quality data requires retrospective chart abstraction, your reporting costs will exceed any incentive payments.

Red Flags in Anesthesiology EHR Selection

  • Anesthesia record is a generic procedure note template rather than a purpose-built perioperative document
  • No direct integration with physiologic monitors for automated vitals capture
  • Time-based billing requires manual unit calculation outside the EHR
  • Vendor has no existing anesthesiology group clients who can validate multi-facility workflows

Implementation Guardrails

  • Pilot at a single facility and validate anesthesia record completeness against your current documentation standard before expanding
  • Compare calculated anesthesia billing units against manual calculations for the first 100 cases to confirm accuracy
  • Establish a provider champion at each facility to manage template configuration and workflow feedback
  • Schedule a 60-day post-go-live review of denied claims, focusing on time documentation and modifier errors

Bottom Line

Anesthesiology EHR selection succeeds or fails on perioperative documentation speed, billing-unit accuracy, and multi-facility reliability. Do not accept generic surgical workflows repackaged for anesthesia. Require scenario-based demos with realistic case volume and validate billing accuracy with hard data before committing.

Next Steps