Getting What You Ask For: Are Anesthesiologists and Other Physicians About to...
Once more, the law preventing the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula from wreaking havoc on Medicare payments to physicians is about to expire. Payments are scheduled to decrease by 21.2 percent on...
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Will the Stage 3 Meaningful Use Requirements Be an Improvement for...
Let us begin with the basic answer to the question in the title of this Alert: anesthesiologists continue to benefit from a specialty-based exemption from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive...
View ArticleTwo Important Updates on Medicare Payments for Anesthesia Services: SGR...
1. Senate Passes SGR Repeal BillWe are very happy to advise you that late last night, the Senate passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) 92-8 and did away with the...
View ArticleThe Skills Anesthesiologists Need to Be Effective Executives
Leadership has never been more important in anesthesiology than it is today. As the specialty demands and takes ownership of increasing levels of responsibility in healthcare reform, the quality of...
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The Anesthesia Quality Institute QCDR—Bigger and Better All the Time
The Anesthesia Quality Institute’s Qualified Data Clinical Registry (AQI QCDR) became even more valuable with the recent addition of 16 new measures bringing the total number of measures adopted by the...
View ArticleAnesthesia Business Consultants and University of California at Irvine to...
Anesthesia Business Consultants (ABC) is pleased to announce its latest partnership with the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine). The anesthesia department at UC Irvine has long been a...
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Enhanced Recovery after Surgery and Anesthesia
The term “Enhanced Recovery After Surgery” and the acronym ERAS are familiar to most anesthesiologists and to other clinicians. Anesthesia administrators and non-physician advisors may not have...
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Anesthesiologists’ Compensation and Practice Information from Medscape’s 2015...
Medscape is one of the very few organizations that surveys physicians on compensation and practice patterns, breaks out the specialty of anesthesiology and publishes the results for free. The Medscape...
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The Trend Toward Code Consolidation
When one reviews the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) changes for 2015, a recurrent theme throughout is the consolidation of code combinations. The American Medical Association/ Specialty Society...
View ArticleOpen Payments System: Updated Public Information on Manufacturers’ Payments...
On June 30, CMS is going to release information on payments made to physicians during 2014 by pharmaceutical, device and other manufacturers. This will be an update to the information made public for...
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Reviewing Anesthesia and Pain Management 2014 CERT Data to Improve...
The Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Program is designed to measure improper payments in the Medicare Fee for Service Program (FFS), as required by the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002....
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Pain Physicians and Anesthesiologists Should Take Care to Report the Correct...
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported in May 2015 that Medicare made up to $33.4 million in overpayments for claims on which the place of service (POS) was coded incorrectly during the...
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Anesthesia Group Mergers: Strategies for Success
In today’s anesthesiology environment, all groups are trying to size up their best option to survive and thrive into the future. Some try to go it alone and others sell out to practice management...
View ArticleThe Real Anti-Kickback Thorn in Anesthesiologists’ Sides: The Company Model
Last week’s Alert brought a new Fraud Alert from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to readers’ attention. The OIG is on the lookout for arrangements in which physicians receive compensation...
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The Only Constant In Healthcare Is Change
The specialty of anesthesiology, and indeed all of health care, is somewhere in the middle of its long transition away from a volume-driven cottage industry. Details of the destination are not yet...
View ArticleRecording What Anesthesiologists Say in and out of the Operating Room
“Don’t put anything in an e-mail message or on Facebook that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the New York Times.” We have all heard that warning many times. In the wake of a...
View ArticleRecording What Anesthesiologists Say in and out of the Operating Room
“Don’t put anything in an e-mail message or on Facebook that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the New York Times.” We have all heard that warning many times. In the wake of a...
View ArticleAnesthesiologists as Their Hospitals’ Partners: Understanding the...
In order to engage fully with their hospital partners, anesthesiologists need to understand some of their institutions’ concerns. While our readers may not hold the solutions, familiarity with...
View ArticleICD-10 Is Less of a Threat to Your Anesthesia Practice Income – For Now
On July 6, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) jointly announced efforts to help physicians prepare for the October 1st changeover to...
View ArticleAnesthesia Business Consultants Proud to Partner with Stat-App on Tracking...
Anesthesia Business Consultants (ABC), a leading provider in billing and practice management for the anesthesia and pain management specialty, is pleased to announce its latest partnership with...
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