Surgeon-Anesthesiologist Dyad Familiarity—What Are the Unintended Consequences?

Over the past 50 years, models of medical-care delivery based on the primacy of an individual practitioner have been supplanted by systems emphasizing mult (disciplinary collaboration and teamwork. Jeffrey Cooper, PhD, a founding member of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, suggested the surgeon-anesthesiologist dyad is the most critical relationship within the perioperative care team. He noted that while interprofessional surgeon-anesthesiologist-nurse-technician teamwork is necessary for individual case success, the surgeon-anesthesiologist dyad has the greatest potential to influence high-quality care. Unfortunately, there are limited, if any, data rigorously examining this relationship.