By Joe Gribbin, Sr.
Hospital and facility administrators are often unaware of how much revenue is unrecognized when they bill anesthesia incorrectly. This can be the case whether they manage anesthesia in-house or contract with an anesthesia group.
I spent 12 years as a hospital administrator before starting MBM, so I’ve seen how missed revenue opportunities erode profitability for healthcare facilities. By making strategic decisions regarding anesthesia services, you can evaluate your hospital or healthcare facility's anesthesia revenue to ensure you are not overspending or underbilling.
This post is our 2nd in a series on strategies hospital and facility administrators can use to maximize anesthesia revenue. In the first post, we discussed the pros and cons of employed, contracted, and temporary anesthesiologists and CRNAs.
Challenges in Maximizing Anesthesia Revenue
Managing anesthesia services is complex, and maximizing revenue is challenging if you treat anesthesia like other medical services. The complexity is especially apparent in anesthesia billing and provider credentialing.
The Complexities of Anesthesia Billing
In recent years, many facilities have seen anesthesia expense increases erode profitability to the point that some are even subsidizing their anesthesia services. These facilities take another hit when inaccurate billing and coding leads to delayed and unpaid claims.
Billing anesthesia is complex because:
- Anesthesia utilizes a different set of CPT codes
- You have to account for time
- There are multiple modifiers per claim
Missing any of these factors leaves money on the table.
Get A FREE Guide On Maximizing Your Healthcare Facility's Revenue Now!
Anesthesia services shouldn't erode your profitability, but driving anesthesia profits takes skill. Medical Business Management specializes in anesthesia billing. We've mastered the complexity so we can increase cash flow by developing a consistent revenue cycle for anesthesia services.
The Complexities of Provider Credentialing
Anesthesia provider turnover is high, so ensuring every provider is enrolled with the payors and has the required licenses and certifications requires constant vigilance. And provider credentialing involves a lot of moving parts.
You won't get paid for services performed by anesthesia providers who aren't credentialed with payors, which further erodes revenue and profits. Many anesthesia providers “moonlight'' at multiple facilities, which makes proper credentialing even more critical.
See how we make provider credentialing easy.
How to Get the Most from Your Anesthesia Revenue
I started MBM because every anesthesia provider, hospital, and facility I encountered was missing out on efficiency and revenue. I believed that by specializing in anesthesia billing, we could turn a loss leader into a profit center. Now, 32 years later, I'm delighted by the relationships we've built with numerous facilities across the country. We are more passionate than ever about managing the complexities of anesthesia billing and provider credentialing to improve your revenue cycle and free up your time to focus on other essential duties. Contact us to see how we can help you turn a loss leader into a profit center!
*Our white paper, How Healthcare Facilities Can Reduce Anesthesia Overhead and Maximize Revenue, addresses these topics and others in a practical and in-depth way. Click here to download your free copy!
