Attorneys in various specialties are always keeping an eye out for outgoing, charismatic, smart physicians willing to provide expert testimony. Common cases in need of expert testimony include medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death and auto accidents. Testifying as an expert witness requires qualifications that vary from state to state. Whether you have never testified as an expert witness, or testify routinely, this article will outline some considerations to keep in mind when providing (or deciding whether to provide) expert testimony. What it Means to Serve as an Expert You may be approached to provide expert testimony as a treating physician, or in your capacity generally as an anesthesiologist or pain management specialist in a case with which you were not involved. Sometimes, the testimony of an anesthesiologist or pain management specialist will be requested simply to explain the treatment rendered to a patient. For example, if a patient was involved...

Webinar for Anesthesia Providers on the ICD-10 ConversionAre You Ready for ICD-10? The Impact on Coding & BillingWednesday, November 20, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. ESTLess than one year from now, the implementation of ICD-10 will impact anesthesia and pain medicine practices across the country. According to CMS, “On October 1, 2014, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnosis and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets.  The transition to ICD-10 is required for everyone covered by HIPAA.”  The delay in implementation by one year gave payors, vendors and practices time to prepare, yet the question to be answered is “Are You Ready for ICD-10?”Anesthesia Business Consultants is offering all interested parties an opportunity to attend an educational webinar on the topic. Darlene Helmer, CMA, CPC, ACS-AN, CMPE, MBA, ABC’s Vice President for Provider Education and Training, will discuss the steps that anesthesia providers should consider taking to...

Anesthesia Business Consultants (ABC) announces today that the combination of its F1RSTUse technology with myAnesthesia from iMDsoft has produced the premiere offering for mobile EHR technology. ABC and iMDsoft offer anesthesia and pain management professionals the opportunity to maximize their EHR Incentive Payments while achieving complete and easy electronic anesthesia documentation at a new level of mobility. Completely independent of hospital IT infrastructure, this cloud-based service has no hardware or software requirements for hospitals or surgery centers other than the use of an iPad, and no technical knowledge is required for installation or use.Stanford R. Plavin, MD, President of Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta (AAA), elaborates, “Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta, LLC is a unique practice. We have a number of diverse outpatient clinical settings, while also supporting an established office-based anesthesia division called Mobile Anesthesiologists of Georgia. We work with practices and locations which have a variety of IT settings and infrastructures....