It’s essential to stay vigilant when it comes to calculating anesthesia time units. Not properly doing so can result in delayed or denied claims, decreased revenue, and audits – which can have a negative impact on your practice’s reputation. Take a moment to look over this guide on the basics of calculating anesthesia time units […]
Accuracy is essential when it comes to physical status modifiers in the anesthesiology field, and as of January 2016, the ASA Physical Status Classification System (modifiers P1-P6) includes examples to assist in choosing the appropriate modifier. The original version was published in 1941 by Meyer Saklad, and then by ASA in a booklet for the […]
You may have heard about MAC anesthesia, or maybe you know someone who experienced this type of sedation during surgery – but what exactly is it, and how does it differ from general anesthesia? These are great questions, and they concern a lot of people – especially those who claim they’ve been awake during surgery. […]
Because of the complexity of medical procedures and services, additional information is often necessary when coding. This information typically comes in the form of what’s called a CPT modifier, which describes how many procedures were performed, why they were necessary, where they were performed on the body, how many surgeons were involved in the operation, […]
Regional anesthesia has been shown to have a positive impact on pain scores, length of stay, postoperative nausea and vomiting, time in post-anesthesia care, and opioid use / adverse events. And according to Sonia Szlyk, MD, speaker at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Orthopedic Value-Based Care, it has also shown to have a positive impact on […]
As physicians enter 2017, there are a number of concerns that will occupy their advocacy efforts for the year. In a survey of more than 65 state and specialty societies, the top issues for 2017 include the nation’s opioid epidemic, Medicaid expansion, private payer reforms, and numerous public health issues. Below are three issues physicians […]
Monitored anesthesia care in routine GI endoscopy has increased within the VHA, but remains low outside of it. This statistic was revealed in a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine. In the letter, Joel H. Rubenstein, MD, MSc, of the department of Veterans Affairs, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and the department of internal […]
From January 22 to 28, 2017, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) is sponsoring National CRNA Week as a way to honor nurse anesthetists. Learn more with Medical Business Management! What Does a CRNA Do? Most people don’t really know what a nurse anesthetist does. In general, people think that a nurse anesthetist puts […]
After a tense period of debate over the new provider regulations by the Department of Veterans Affairs, on Dec. 14, those regulations were finally amended to allow full practice authority to APRNs employed at VA hospitals. The pain point? CRNAs weren’t included in that ruling. According to the final rule, certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, […]
Anesthesia billing can be hard to understand -- and even harder to keep up with. From revenue cycle management to coding, it’s almost inevitable that something will fall through the cracks (unless you hire a third-party company to handle it for you, of course). Here, we’ve broken down the anesthesia billing process into three components […]
