“Rather than allowing a toxic culture to continue to impact patient care and provider wellness, [ACTOC leaders] elected to address these issues intentionally and civilly. By bringing in outside experts to facilitate respectful dialogue and discuss the undiscussable, [UAB ACTOC] shifted away from antagonistic stakeholder positions to focus on respectful interactions, accountability, and trust—and replaced the toxic culture with a culture of safety and wellness.”

UAB Anesthesia Care Team Optimization Committee (ACTOC)
ACTOC Mission: Optimize the perioperative care of our patients by building and promoting an inclusive, respectful, and fulfilling anesthesia care team

The Infinite Game: One Possible Future of Anesthesia in the United States
Sherrer, D. Matthew MD, MBA, FASA, FAACD*; Dutton, Richard P. MD, MBA†; Kamdar, Nirav MD, MPP, MBA‡; Reede, Lynn DNP, MBA, CRNA, FNAP§; Tsai, Mitchell H. MD, MMM, FASA, FAACD∥; Berkowitz, Dan E. MB BCh*; Vetter, Thomas R. MD, MPH, MFA
Anesthesia & Analgesia 137(6):p 1179-1185, December 2023. | DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006628

Recognizing the Awe in Anesthesia
Berkowitz, Dan E. MB, BCh*; Sherrer, D. Matthew MD, MBA*; Vetter, Thomas R. MD, MPH, MFA*,†
Anesthesia & Analgesia ():10.1213/ANE.0000000000007050, May 10, 2024. | DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000007050

“As practicing anesthesiologists, we ought to pause more often to witness our colleagues’ quiet courage, kindness, strength, and resilience—and to embrace its moral beauty and our attendant awe. This awe can serve as a pathway to better mental and physical health, and hence an antidote to professional burnout. Indeed, recent data on learning from excellence shows that prosocial behaviors such as kindness, generosity, and compassion are frequently cited as not only contributing to improved patient care but also as directly impacting the well-being of colleagues.13 Intentionally encountering such prosocial behavior can also promote greater prosocial behavior by us all in the anesthesiology community, thereby ameliorating the recent, demoralizing commoditization of anesthesiology.”

Audiobook: Dr. Matthew Sherrer | An Infinite Game Mindset for Enhanced Cooperation in Anesthesia

Anesthesia Leadership News: 19 graduate from UAB Medicine’s High Performing Care Collaborative Spring 2024 program

The team quotient: Becoming expert teams 
"We can’t just be a team of experts—we need to be expert teams. Therefore, we have to improve our team quotient... Without team skills, each of these specializations can often create unintentional friction, not only on our systems but also on our outcomes."

Collectively Intelligent Anesthesia Care Teams
D. Matthew Sherrer, MD, MBA, FASA, FAACD; Melissa Mines Ramsey, DNP, CRNA; Kesha Thurston, DNP, MSHQS, CRNA

“With the collaborative support of and guidance from the UAB ACTOC, our team has shown that civility in the workplace and an understanding and practice of collectively intelligent teamwork can thrive, benefitting patients and providers alike.”

“The default situation is for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists to see each other as mutually worthy rivals in the perioperative marketplace. However, in Infinite Anesthesia, we see each other as fellow players in an infinite game, jointly competing against the status quo of bipartisan rivalry. In other words, rather than seeing each other as the opponent, Infinite Anesthesia emphasizes collaboration and mutual respect. We thus compete to overcome microaggressions, to alleviate stress and to minimize burnout, and to rise above political animus, name calling, and bickering—as we build toward a better future state.”
- The Infinite Game: One Possible Future of Anesthesia in the United States

The Infinite Game: One Possible Future of Anesthesia in the United States
Sherrer, D. Matthew MD, MBA, FASA, FAACD*; Dutton, Richard P. MD, MBA†; Kamdar, Nirav MD, MPP, MBA‡; Reede, Lynn DNP, MBA, CRNA, FNAP§; Tsai, Mitchell H. MD, MMM, FASA, FAACD∥; Berkowitz, Dan E. MB BCh*; Vetter, Thomas R. MD, MPH, MFA
Anesthesia & Analgesia 137(6):p 1179-1185, December 2023. | DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006628

Ideaflow and Ambidexterity in Anesthesiology—Quality and Safety in an Era of Disruptive Innovation
Daniel Matthew Sherrer, MD, Matthew J. Mazzei, PhD, Mohan Tanniru, PhD, Stephen J. Kimatian, MD, Mitchell H. Tsai, MD, MMM Jeremy Utley, MBA

The Icarus Paradox and the Future of Anesthesiology
Sherrer, D. Matthew MD, MBA, FASA, FAACD*; Franklin, Andrew D. MD, MBA, FASA, FAACD†; Kimatian, Stephen J. MD‡; Black, Ian H. MD, FASA§,∥,; Tsai, Mitchell H. MD, MMM, FASA, FAACD#
Anesthesia & Analgesia 136(1):p 185-189, January 2023. | DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006253

“We could choose to embrace the status quo and continue to be complacent with our current models and financial position. Undoubtedly, many anesthesiologists would prefer this option over a path of continued exploration, iteration, and innovation that places us in new models that offer none of the comfort and familiarity with which we have grown accustomed. However, some would see this as an opportunity to embrace uncertainty, to leave the predictability of our daily routines, and to tinker with new and exciting ideas.”

UAB Leadership Development Office
Decades of research on organizational effectiveness is evident: effective leadership is the linchpin to meaningfully engaging employees, driving cultural transformation, and improving productivity, processes, and strategic outcomes. This office provides tools and training to allow leaders and the teams they direct to enhance their ability to collaborate and be successful.

Perioperative Leadership Fellowship at UAB