Anesthesiologists’ familiarity with the ASA and ACS guidelines on Advance Directives in the perioperative setting

Abstract Study Objective To assess anesthesiologists' familiarity with the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and American College of Surgeons (ACS) guidelines on Advance Directives in the perioperative setting. Design Single-center, 4-question anonymous survey. Setting Urban academic medical center. Subjects Up to 34 subjects responded to each question. Measurements and Main Results Familiarity with the ASA and ACS guidelines on Advance Directives in the perioperative setting ranged from 45% to 100%. Conclusions There was inadequate familiarity with components of the ASA and ACS guidelines on advance directives in the perioperative setting. Larger studies are required to assess anesthesiologists' familiarity with national society guidelines that directly affect patient care. Future work should investigate best practices for guideline implementation, and consequences of poor adherence to national guidelines.