Hal Nelson – Revenue Optimization Strategies for Anesthesia Providers | This Week in Surgery Centers

Here’s what to expect on this week’s episode. 🎙️

🎙️ As more cases migrate from inpatient to outpatient settings, there is more opportunity than ever for anesthesia groups to partner with surgery centers and bring in serious dollars.

While the migration of cases is exciting, anesthesiologists need to ensure they are well-versed in billing and charting requirements to understand how to optimize revenue.

Hal Nelson, CANPC, MSN Healthcare Solutions’ Vice President of Anesthesia Services, joins us on This Week in Surgery Centers to share five revenue optimization strategies for anesthesia providers.

3️⃣ Tip 1: Patient ASA Classification: The classification system is subjective, so anesthesia groups need to rank patients consistently during their pre-anesthesia assessment. Insurance companies pay higher for a classification of 3 or above.

🛑 Tip 2: Anesthesia Start/Stop Times: Do not limit yourself to OR time only. The start time is when the anesthesia provider begins preparing the patient for the induction of the anesthetic either in the operating room or the equivalent area, which can be the pre-op/holding area. You might be leaving out 5-10 minutes of billable time for every case.

👩‍⚕️ ️Tip 3: Charting Procedural & Diagnosis Information: You never want to chart the procedure solely based on what was planned. Instead, you need to review the EMR or ask the surgeon at the end of the case what was actually performed so that you are getting paid for all the clinical work completed.

💰 Tip 4: Perioperative Anesthesia Services: There are many things that anesthesiologists do outside of the OR that are billable and reimbursable. Provide a list of clinical events that occurred outside of the OR to your billing company and ask how you can make sure they are reviewed and you are adequately paid.

🗣️ Tip 5: Pre-op H&Ps: Suppose the pre-anesthesia assessment and the surgical H&P are separate and distinct documentation-wise, and you are screening for both. In that case, you might be able to bill for an Evaluation and Management code.

Find the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to hear all the details.