The ELEVATE Summit, held January 25-26, 2025, at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, convened leading experts, researchers, policymakers, and patient advocates to address critical issues in women’s pain management and anesthesia care. The event focused on advancing patient-centered, evidence-based approaches in cesarean anesthesia, and laid the foundation for actionable improvements in clinical practice, knowledge and evidence gaps, and policy.
Over two days, the attendees engaged in dynamic discussions and collaborative sessions on essential topics, including:
- Evidence Gaps and Future Research Priorities: Key areas for comparative effectiveness research, including optimal anesthesia adjuncts, empathetic care strategies, and the role of non-clinical support persons such as doulas in improving anesthesia-related patient outcomes.
- Shared Decision-Making in Cesarean Anesthesia: Strategies to better integrate shared decision-making models into prenatal consultations and cesarean anesthesia planning, to ensure that patient preferences are prioritized.
- Health Disparities and Equity in Maternal Care: Systemic barriers to equitable anesthesia care, such as bias, reimbursement limitations, and inconsistent provider communication and training, and proposed solutions to improve access and outcomes for diverse patient populations.
- Leveraging CER to Inform Policy and Reimbursement for Patient-Centered Anesthesia Care: How research findings can guide policy changes, refine quality metrics, and support payment models that incentivize value- and evidence-based, patient-centered anesthesia practices, including expanded access to prenatal anesthesia consultations.
The summit was co-chaired by Susanna Stanford, a patient expert and member of the Clinical Human Factors Group, and Grace Lim, MD, MSc, Chief of the Division of Obstetric & Women’s Anesthesiology in our department.
A key outcome of the summit is the ELEVATE Report, a comprehensive synthesis of the project’s key findings and recommendations. The report serves as a framework for clinicians, researchers, policymakers, quality experts, and patient advocates, outlining strategies to bridge knowledge gaps, standardize best practices, and improve maternal anesthesia care through patient-centered initiatives.
To learn more about the summit and read the full ELEVATE Report, visit ELEVATE Summit 2025.