Kathryn Hickner, Esq. Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz LLP, Cleveland, OH If you are anticipating buying or selling a practice during the coming months, you are not alone. The healthcare industry is experiencing a wave of integration. In fact, it has been occurring for several years. Many transactional healthcare attorneys have negotiated and closed d...

​Summary: The national anesthesia conversion factor for the 2019 Physician Fee Schedule final rule increased minimally to $22.27 from $22.19 in 2018. We review highlights of the 2019 rule with relevance for anesthesia providers, including changes to the Quality Payment Program for payment year 2021. Significant changes in documentation requirements...

Summary: The 2019 OPPS/ASC final rule adds 12 cardiac catheterization procedures and five additional cardiology procedures to the ASC list of covered procedures. As a result, many anesthesia groups will see a change in the mix of procedures at their ASCs starting in 2019 and should begin planning accordingly.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid S...

The current framework for addressing burnout, including burnout among physicians and other healthcare professionals, tends to be one that attempts to 'fix' the individual, but burnout is really a warning sign to the organization that it needs to make improvements in the social and psychological environment. We offer highlights of a presentation by ...

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: to reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it—but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. — Oliver Wendell HolmesIn earlier Communiqué articles ("Hope is Not a Strategy: A Primer for Anesthesia...