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...

  A moderated discussion of compensation strategies at last week’s MGMA-ACMPE AAA meeting showed a good deal of flexibility in allowing anesthesiologists to job-share or otherwise to reduce their hours. The groups represented at the discussion were also creative in compensating members for business development and administrative activities. If case loads decline substantially, layoffs may occur, although they are the least favorite option.Along with more than 300 other MGMA-ACMPE Anesthesia Administration Assembly (AAA) members and exhibitors, we participated in the annual AAA meeting in Scottsdale last week.  One breakout session discussion group in particular was so informative that we obtained permission to bring a summary to our readers.About 60 individuals attended the discussion of compensation strategies moderated by Stephen E. Comess, Executive Director, United Anesthesia Services, P.C.  Mr. Comess got the ball rolling on responses to twelve prepared compensation management scenario questions by giving each member of the audience a playing...