5 Quick Facts about CAAs

The American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAAA) demonstrates five quick facts about Anesthesiologist Assistants:

CAAs are a veteran health care provider.

Anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs) have been working as part of the anesthesia care team for more than 30 years. CAAs work under the supervision of an anesthesiologist, who is a physician. Together they form the anesthesia care team, proven to be the safest method of anesthesia delivery.

CAAs have long been recognized for their impeccable safety records.

A recently-concluded four year data review at the University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, comparing the safety records of CAAs and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) concluded that the two are on equal footing, saying, "Complication rates were no higher for CAAs than CRNAs." The Medical Center conducted the research over four years (1999 - 2003) and measured more than 46 thousand cases involving CAAs and CRNAs (23,000 cases each). This was an unbiased comparison because the medical center trains both CAAs and CRNAs.

The Highest Educational Standards

The training of an anesthesiologist assistant combines a premedical curriculum with an intense masters degree training program, at two of the nation's most prestigious medical centers, Emory University in Atlanta and Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. This training includes a minimum of 2500 clinical hours (hands-on training) to produce the most competent, highly-trained, anesthetist practitioner, well above the standards for other well-trained non-physician anesthesia providers.

AAs currently work in fifteen states.

The states in which CAAs work by a license, regulation, and/or certification are:

1. Alabama
2. Colorado
3. District of Columbia
4. Florida
5. Georgia
6. Indiana
7. Kentucky
8. Missouri
9. New Mexico (university hospital settings)
10. Ohio
11. Oklahoma
12. South Carolina
13. U.S. Territory of Guam
14. Vermont
15. Wisconsin

The states in which CAAs are granted practice privilege through physician delegation (meaning the anesthesiologist can delegate specific anesthesia tasks to an CAA):

1. Michigan
2. New Hampshire
3. Texas
4. West Virginia

The federal government recognizes and uses CAAs.

Both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs authorize the use of anesthesiologist assistants to practice under the TRICARE insurance program.

*source obtained from the AAAA website