It is an oddity of human nature that we are drawn to television programs that continue to extend the story, where succeeding episodes build upon the plotlines of the last. What used to be relegated to the day-time soap operas of the sixties and seventies became commonplace in nightly dramas from Dallas to Downton Abbey. Remarkably, that soap opera ...

Summary: The federal government has recently opened up the independent dispute resolution process for out-of-network providers who are unhappy with their reimbursement for services. Specific instructions are provided in this alert for beginning this process.Such crises don't often occur; but, when they do, it's good to have a workable resoluti...

In this final installment of our review of the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, we address some of the remaining topics that may be of interest to either anesthesia or chronic pain providers. This includes some possible good news on the reimbursement front. In our first two alerts dealing with last month's release of the 2022 Medicare Physici...

Summary: Today's alert continues our summary of the changes in store next year for Medicare providers. Highlights include chronic pain coding changes, modifications to the teaching rules and quality standards.Provider Relief Fund Reporting Deadline: November 30, 2021A reminder that if you received Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments totaling m...

Summary: While reasonable payment rates among commercial plans for anesthesia services were forthcoming in the past, it is clearly becoming more difficult to obtain adequate rates from many payers. This, coupled with fairly flat Medicare and Medicaid rates and a growing Medicare and Medicaid population, translates to significant pressure on gr...