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Surprise Billing Regulations: A Surprise Attack on Anesthesia?
Summary: Even before the No Surprises Act went into effect, major national healthcare organizations raised concerns about conflicts between the Act and its implementing regulations. Battle lines are...
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Anesthesia and the Current Opioid Crisis
SUMMARY: Despite education and efforts to reduce the abuse of opioids among Americans, the addiction crisis continues. To what extent can pain management and anesthesia practices play a part in...
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What is the Optimal Size for an Anesthesia Practice?
SUMMARY: Today we explore is big really better? Many a practice has dedicated considerable time and energy to the discussion of merger and expansion options. This question is more relevant now than...
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Anesthesia in the Crosshairs: Surviving a Payer Audit
SUMMARY: Audits of anesthesia records and claims are inevitable. The question is, how well will your group members' documentation hold up under the bright light of scrutiny? A few strategies may help...
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Managing Risk in an Anesthesia Practice
Summary: The practice of anesthesia is preeminently clinical, but few practices can sustain themselves without adhering to sound financial and contract management principles. What are the risk areas...
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The 2022 OIG Work Plan: Implications for Anesthesia Practices
Every year, the government's watchdog agency produces a list of healthcare services and procedures they plan to scrutinize for the purpose of determining the potential for significant abuse by the...
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The Effect of the No Surprises Act Court Decision on the Specialty of Anesthesia
SUMMARY: As of February 22, at least six lawsuits have been filed opposing certain regulations arising from the No Surprises Act. A recent ruling in one of these cases has just changed the legal...
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Addressing Pain: Anesthesia Considers Best Practices
SUMMARY: The prevalence of opioid usage among America's patients has generated the need for a set of protocols to be used by those providing acute pain care. A consortium of 15 medical societies has...
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What is the Value of Chronic Pain to an Anesthesia Practice?
SUMMARY: Many anesthesia groups have a chronic pain component; but how beneficial is it from an overall financial standpoint? While some make it work, it is very difficult to set up and maintain a...
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A Little More Paperwork: Medicare Refines Neurostimulator Policy
Summary: Medicare places a new reimbursement hurdle for providers who perform spinal neurostimulator services. However, payment is not restricted where the pain practitioner's paperwork passes...
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Anesthesia and the ICU
SUMMARY: Contributing resources to the ICU is not uncommon for anesthesia groups, but there are nuances that each group should keep in mind before making a significant commitment to this line of...
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Anesthesia and the ASC: A Perfect Partnership?
SUMMARY: More and more cases are moving from the hospital to the surgery center. How involved should anesthesia groups be in the running or even owning of these facilities? Today's alert looks at the...
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Why Scope Creep Is Today’s Most Pressing Anesthesia Management Challenge
Summary: Two new words are now an integral part of the anesthesia management conversation. They are scope and creep, and they have everything to do with the future or a practice. Understanding how to...
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Anesthesia’s Assessment of Physical Status
Summary: Assigning and supporting the patient's ASA status should not be approached in a haphazard or ho-hum manner, as its implications are far-reaching.The world of tomorrow, as envisioned by...
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Anesthesia Workload and Surgery Risks: A Pivotal Linkage
Summary: For certain surgeries, staffing one anesthesiologist for three or four overlapping cases can increase complications in patients post surgery.Most major surgeries would not be possible...
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The Anesthesia Challenge of Early Morning Starts
Summary: It is becoming more and more evident that, as cases move from the hospital to the surgery center, anesthesia staffing of the hospital becomes increasingly inefficient from a logistical and...
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What Makes Anesthesia Billing Unique?
Summary: The billing rules applicable to the practice of anesthesia are particularly complex when compared to other specialties. Anesthesia providers need to understand the nuances of these rules as...
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The Value of Acute Pain Management to the Anesthesia Practice
Summary: As the specialty of anesthesia evolves, new lines of business are explored and employed. Over time, however, what once seemed like a cutting-edge technique or profitable opportunity may...
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Defining Anesthesia Profitability
Anesthesia profitability has been defined in many ways over the years, but rarely has it been defined in a way that actually relates to the fundamental economics of the specialty. Physician...
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Mining the Potential of the Anesthesia Database
It goes without saying that hospitals could not run their operating room suites without anesthesia. It has been said that the two most significant advances in medicine have been antibiotics and...
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