Anesthesia Industry eAlerts
Sent to subscribers every Monday morning, our eAlerts deliver timely updates on regulatory, legislative and practice management developments of interest to anesthesia professionals.
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eAlerts
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Why Should Anesthesia Providers Care About Information Blocking?
April 22, 2019
The big story from the 2018 meeting of the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) was artificial intelligence. At HIMSS 2019, it was information blocking. Why? And what does that mean for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists?
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Medical Scribes: A Pro or a Con in Pain Management and Anesthesia?
April 15, 2019
Though a recent Mayo Clinic survey of 5,400 physicians shows burnout has dropped slightly and satisfaction with work-life integration has risen somewhat across most specialties, including anesthesiology, burnout still pervades healthcare and is considered a major public health problem. For some, healthcare’s Triple Aim has become the Quadruple Aim, with a goal for clinicians of “attaining joy in work.”
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Essentials for Anesthesia Groups on Hierarchical Condition Categories
April 8, 2019
Anesthesia practices that partner with ABC for their anesthesia billing and coding needs know that our mantra for anesthesia practitioners in this realm is document, document, document. They know that thorough documentation at their end plays an essential role in allowing our billing team to demonstrate medical necessity for the services they provide and to ensure that they receive appropriate payment that accurately reflects the complexity of their work.
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Medicare for All: What Could It Mean for Anesthesia?
April 1, 2019
The past month has seen a burst of developments on the healthcare legislative and judicial fronts with potential to impact anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists as well as all clinicians and institutions.
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The ‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’ of Starting an Anesthesia Quality Program, Part 2
March 25, 2019
As we noted in last week’s eAlert on developing an anesthesia quality program, the need for anesthesia practices to demonstrate quality to their facilities has become virtually as important as getting paid for services.
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The ‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’ of Starting an Anesthesia Quality Program, Part 1
March 18, 2019
It has never been more important for anesthesia practices to demonstrate the quality of their care. We review some of the key ingredients of an effective anesthesia quality program from a presentation at PRACTICE MANAGEMENT™ 2019 and will explore quality measure selection and definition in a future eAlert.
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Practice Management Pearls: A Rundown of Recent Anesthesia Research, Part 3
March 11, 2019
This week’s eAlert continues with additional reviews of some of the more thought-provoking e-posters from the ASA’s PRACTICE MANAGEMENT™ 2019. The posters summarized here, like all of the other posters at this meeting, are based on initiatives at one institution. As such, the findings will not necessarily apply to other practices. However, the ideas and information here can be used as a springboard for possible practice improvement initiatives within your own facilities.
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Practice Management Pearls: A Rundown of Recent Anesthesia Research, Part 2
March 4, 2019
As a follow up to last week’s eAlert, we review additional e-posters presented at the ASA’s PRACTICE MANAGEMENT™ 2019. As mentioned last week, please bear in mind that each of these studies represent the experience of a single institution, and the same study at your own institution might well produce a different result. These summaries are offered to serve as a catalyst for discussion and planning.
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Practice Management Pearls: A Rundown of Recent Anesthesia Research
February 25, 2019
The ASA’s PRACTICE MANAGEMENT™ 2019 featured e-poster presentations on a wide range of topics of interest to anesthesia practitioners. We summarize some of them here and will review others in future eAlerts.
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What Anesthesia Providers Should Know About the CMS and ONC Proposed Interoperability Rules
February 18, 2019
As anesthesia practitioners know, the smooth and seamless exchange of information among systems remains a significant issue in anesthesia as well as in healthcare as a whole. After years of discussion and hand-wringing about the sector’s lack of interoperability, is change finally on the horizon?
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Transitioning to an Anesthesia EMR? Think System Modification First
February 11, 2019
Thanks to our extensive client base, ABC has gained a unique perspective on the pros and cons of electronic medical records (EMRs) and the challenges anesthesia groups face in implementing them. In fact, the transition from a paper anesthesia record to an electronic record is so significant that ABC has established a special transition team to assist clients in ensuring that the EMR they implement will support anesthesia billing’s specific requirements.
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Harnessing Technology to Improve Anesthesia Quality: Part 2
February 4, 2019
In last week’s eAlert, we discussed some of the ways that health information technology (HIT) can be harnessed to improve quality in anesthesia. With proper implementation and vigilance in the face of the added distractions that can come with automation, HIT can help drive improvements in documentation, clinical decision-making, financial performance, clinician satisfaction and much more.
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Harnessing Technology to Improve Anesthesia Quality: Stories from PRACTICE MANAGEMENT™ 2019
January 28, 2019
Anesthesia providers typically think of anesthesia information management systems (AIMS) and electronic health records (EHR) when they think of health information technology (HIT) in anesthesia, but HIT’s potential uses in the specialty reach much farther. HIT can be harnessed to ensure appropriate documentation, drive smarter clinical decisions, boost provider satisfaction, bolster financial performance, promote medication safety and more.
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Anesthesia Drug Prices and Shortages on the Rise: AHA Study
January 21, 2019
Soaring drug prices and persistent drug shortages during 2015-2017, including those for important anesthesia drugs, led one-fourth of United States hospitals to reduce staff to cope with the financial pressure, according to a study commissioned by the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
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Anesthesia Time and Field Avoidance: Changes to the 2019 RVG
January 14, 2019
Anesthesia providers should be aware of two changes in the ASA 2019 Relative Value Guide® (the book of descriptors for anesthesia services, base unit values and CPT codes) with potential implications for their practices.
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Adding Chronic Pain Management to Anesthesia Services? Think Metrics, Market and Incentives
January 7, 2019
About 15 percent of ABC’s clients practice in the subspecialty of chronic pain management. While the scope and types of services provided vary among these practices, many report favorable experiences and positive relationships with their facilities.
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Highlights from Our 2018 Publications for Anesthesia and Pain Management Practitioners
December 31, 2018
As 2018 draws to a close, we take this opportunity to review and distill some of the key takeaways from selected ABC eAlerts and Communiqué articles for the year. We hope the highlights below (with links for easy reference) offer a useful year-end refresher that helps you consolidate your thinking and learning about the practice management issues facing the specialty.
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The 2019 MACRA/MIPS QCDR Quality Category: What Anesthesia and Pain Management Groups Need to Know
December 17, 2018
The budget neutrality required by MACRA and the high performance by anesthesia and pain management groups in the Quality Payment Program so far means that providers within the specialty are unlikely to earn significant bonuses by participating in MIPS in 2019. However, compelling reasons to continue reporting remain: 1) insurance carriers continue to require it; 2) hospitals and facilities continue to request it; and 3) practice trend data is a valuable asset for organizational reviews. We encourage providers to review the quality measures awaiting approval by CMS through the MiraMed QCDR in order to begin planning for 2019.
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An Update on Evaluation and Management Coding for Anesthesia Providers
December 10, 2018
Although anesthesiologists do not bill for Evaluation and Management visits frequently, providers should be aware of the situations in which failure to use these codes can lead to lost revenue. We review these situations and other E&M coding issues of interest to anesthesia providers, including optional changes in E&M documentation requirements that will go into effect in 2019.
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How Will Price Transparency Impact Anesthesia Practices?
December 3, 2018
The movement toward increased healthcare price transparency is likely here to stay. Anesthesia groups need to be aware that patients are going to have increasing access to information about the costs of procedures, and that this information could conceivably influence activity levels and patterns at their facilities.
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Digital Strategy and Social Media Essentials for Anesthesiologists: ‘Lead or Be Left Behind’
November 26, 2018
Social media can be a powerful tool to help you reach your professional goals, whatever they may be. We provide an overview of a presentation by Marjorie Stiegler, MD, on digital strategy for physicians at ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2018.
