Anesthesia Coding Alert
Here’s Your Explanation of Anesthesia Time
Question: I’m new to anesthesia coding. Can you explain what’s meant by “anesthesia time”? Wisconsin Subscriber Answer: 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 (i.e., 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. Each of your providers should document the start and end times of their service on the anesthesia record, especially when it is different from the anesthesia start and end times for the case. This is very important to ensure the service is billed correctly. Whenever possible, relief during a case should be provided by like providers (an anesthesiologist relieves another anesthesiologist, a CRNA relieves another CRNA). However, this is not always possible for all groups.
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