# Calculating anesthesia time units



## crea

I am new to anesthesia billing and have a question regarding calculation of time units.  I am trying to figure out when to 'round up' units when the time exceeds 15 minutes.  For instance, how many time units would 26 minutes be?  I have read that in order to 'round up' to the next unit, the time must have exceeded at least half (7.5 minutes) of the next 15 minute time increment. So 26 minutes divided by 15 is 1.7, would I round this up to 2 units or 1?  Can anyone please clarify?


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## vinice27@yahoo.com

2 Units, make sure the time is stated on the claim or the payer may request it, taking longer to pay.


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## crea

Thanks, was I right about when to round up?  Would 22 minutes of anesthesia time be 1 unit or 2? I am trying to confirm when I am able to round up to the next 15 minute increment.


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## dwaldman

Might also want to check if the carrier such as Medicare just wants number of minutes in the units field on the CMS-1500. And they will take the minutes you provided and calculate the units themselves.


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## dwaldman

Below is from Internet Only Manual, Claims Processing Manual 100-04 Chapter 12

G. Anesthesia Time and Calculation of Anesthesia Time Units  Anesthesia time is defined as the period during which an anesthesia practitioner is present with the patient.  It starts when the anesthesia practitioner begins to prepare the patient for anesthesia services in the operating room or an equivalent area and ends when the anesthesia practitioner is no longer furnishing anesthesia services to the patient, that is, when the patient may be placed safely under postoperative care.  Anesthesia time is a continuous time period from the start of anesthesia to the end of an anesthesia service.  In counting anesthesia time for services furnished on or after January 1, 2000, the anesthesia practitioner can add blocks of time around an interruption in anesthesia time as long as the anesthesia practitioner is furnishing continuous anesthesia care within the time periods around the interruption.  
*Actual anesthesia time in minutes is reported on the claim.  For anesthesia services furnished on or after January 1, 1994, the A/B MAC computes time units by dividing reported anesthesia time by 15 minutes.  Round the time unit to one decimal place*.  The A/B MAC does not recognize time units for CPT codes 01995 or 01996.  
For purposes of this section, anesthesia practitioner means a physician who performs the anesthesia service alone, a CRNA who is not medically directed, or a CRNA or AA, who is medically directed.  The physician who medically directs the CRNA or AA would ordinarily report the same time as the CRNA or AA reports for the CRNA service.


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## dimme85

*Anesthesia Time*

I've seen some post here, that says it is rounded up if over 7.5 minutes.  Does that make any sense?  I thought it was strictly divided by 15 and rounded to the tens unit.


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## GaneshR

*Units*

This will help you

Time and anesthesia claims

Claims processing system calculates time units based on the total time that anesthesia was provided. Time units are calculated in 15-minute intervals. Our system will round additional time greater than eight minutes up to the next unit. Our system will round down additional time seven and fewer minutes. 

For example:
? 30 minutes of anesthesia is equal to two units (30=15+15)
? 38 minutes of anesthesia is rounded up to three units (38=15+15+8)
? 37 minutes of anesthesia is rounded down to two units (37=15+15+7)


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## syedsamee2012

GaneshR said:


> *Units*
> 
> This will help you
> 
> Time and anesthesia claims
> 
> Claims processing system calculates time units based on the total time that anesthesia was provided. Time units are calculated in 15-minute intervals. Our system will round additional time greater than eight minutes up to the next unit. Our system will round down additional time seven and fewer minutes.
> 
> For example:
> ? 30 minutes of anesthesia is equal to two units (30=15+15)
> ? 38 minutes of anesthesia is rounded up to three units (38=15+15+8)
> ? 37 minutes of anesthesia is rounded down to two units (37=15+15+7)


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## syedsamee2012

Hai GaneshR,

you mentioned greater than 8 minutes. is this correct?

or... grater than 7 minutes . i think according to your point, this is correct. kindly reply.


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