It’s that time again. Much like taxes or jury duty, there is a certain inevitability to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services updating their Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). Calendar year 2022 is no different, and the update contains both good and bad news. All the CMS’ efforts in updating the MPFS are “to […]
The No Surprises Act (NSA) is not just a pointless consumer protection law - it’s congress’s earnest attempt to safeguard individual beneficiaries from unexpectedly high medical bills. The need for this legislation became evident in the wake of COVID-19 hospitalizations as emergency, and out-of-network payments spun out of control. Learn more about the No Surprises […]
It’s almost the end of 2021, which means it’s time to prepare for the policy changes going into effect for the following year. The biggest one to pay attention to is the No Surprises Act (NSA), part of a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package in the Consolidated Appropriations Act. This law becomes effective January 1, 2022, […]
Despite the challenges to the general anesthesia drug market precipitated by COVID-19, its market share is projected to hit $2.4 billion by 2025. That’s a robust compound annual growth rate of 3.4%. But how did we get here? Who’s controlling this market? And how do we ride the crest of this wave without wiping out? […]
According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the International Spine Intervention Society, minor pain management procedures require only local anesthesia under most routine circumstances, these include: Epidural steroid injections Epidural blood patch Trigger point injections Sacroiliac joint injections Bursal injections Occipital nerve block Facet injections Because of this, general anesthesia and moderate sedation services […]
Back in 2019, there was a significant change to the ASA RVG in regards to field avoidance. We discussed it back when the ASA made this change, but it’s always a good time to brush up on the details. The RVG can seem like an arbitrarily moving target, but the changes are intended to evolve […]
Anesthesia care and billing doesn’t fall on a spectrum from “easy to hard” in terms of levels of care. In fact, it’s a diverse Venn diagram of interactions between existing conditions, procedures, modifiers, and services. The distinctions on this Venn diagram become very important, however, when it comes time to reimburse for these complex types […]
Each year, millions of Americans are affected by surprise medical bills ranging from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This so-called “surprise billing” can be devastating to patients and their families, but the good news is this unfair practice is coming to an end. What Is Surprise Billing? Surprise bills -- […]
by Joe Gribbin, Sr. Hospital and facility administrators are challenged by the inability to control their revenue cycle when anesthesia services are outsourced. If you aren’t aware of how much revenue is being generated, it’s difficult to maximize cash flow. This is our third post in this series highlighting the challenges hospital administrators face and […]
Anesthesiologists and CRNAs are among the most sought-after specialties in the medical field. As healthcare demands are increasing and the supply of qualified physicians decreases, the future of anesthesiology is fraught with discussions surrounding the direction of the industry. As with many other healthcare professionals, the pandemic of 2020 has also provided another degree of […]
