SUMMARY An innovative anesthesiologist-driven transitional pain service shows promise as a model for preventing and managing the significant problem of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP). The service focuses on early identification and multidisciplinary intervention before, during and after hospitalization for patients at risk for CPSP, and could pro...

As we noted in our eAlert on the topic, the medical community's transition to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th revision (ICD-10) has, contrary to expectations, gone fairly well so far. In fact, it has gone much better than anticipated, with rates of claims denials remaining essentially unchanged before a...

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' 2018 target date for having 50 percent of all Medicare fee-for-service payments made through a value-based model is not far away. The transition to value requires hospitals, physicians and post-acute care providers to unite in delivering a high quality and cost-effective patient experience. Indeed, pr...

On October 1, 2015, a major change to diagnosis coding was rolled out with the International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems 10th revision (ICD-10), and virtually all payers (except workers compensation and auto carriers) have agreed to implement the new codes. There was serious concern that the complexity of the new code seq...

Anesthesiologists know the health risks of obesity and the added complexity of providing anesthesia care for significantly overweight patients. Everything from the preoperative assessment to anesthesia induction and maintenance and management of a difficult airway to perioperative pain management requires special planning and consideration. With ob...