In her blog, A Penned Point, early this year, Karen Sibert, MD, president of the California Society of Anesthesiologists, asked her fellow specialists to take some time during Physician Anesthesiologists Week to celebrate the specialty's accomplishments, but also to reflect on the state of the profession today, the anesthesiologist's place in the c...

SummaryTargeted Probe & Educate, a medical review process introduced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in late 2017, identifies providers with high claim error rates or unusual billing practices for items and services that pose the greatest financial risk to Medicare. We present an overview of the process, which focuses on educa...

Kelly D. Dennis, MBA, ACS-AN, CANPC, CHCA, CPC, CPC-I Perfect Office Solutions, Inc., Leesburg, FL When the ASA Relative Value Guide (RVG) was first developed in the 1970s it established a significant precedent with regard to what services could be billed as incidental to an anesthetic. The guide established the concept of "invasive" as the critica...

SummaryThe proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2019 includes a slight increase in the anesthesia conversion factor as well as some changes to the Quality Payment Program and a significant overhaul of documentation requirements for Evaluation & Management services. CMS is accepting comments on the proposal until September 10, 2018. The ...

Jody Locke, MA Vice President of Anesthesia and Pain Practice Management Services Anesthesia Business Consultants, LLC, Jackson, MIMany anesthesia practices complain that their biggest challenge is to generate enough funds to cover the cost of a sufficient number of providers to meet the expectations and service requirements of the facilities they ...