Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

No Way Around Carrier's Standby Policy

Question: One of our anesthesiologists monitored a patient's vital signs during excision of a tumor from the patient's back. The monitoring was done from 7:47 p.m. to 8:07 p.m. The surgeon, not our anesthesiologist, was the one who administered the anesthetic at 7:48. The patient's carrier (NGS Medicare) does not allow billing for standby services. Is there any way to be reimbursed for the anesthesiologist's time? Kentucky Subscriber Answer: In the situation as you describe it, the anesthesiologist is not actively participating in the case, so unfortunately there is no reasonable claim that can be made for this time period. Most payers will deny standby services (99360, Physician standby service, requiring prolonged physician attendance, each 30 minutes [e.g., operative standby, standby for frozen section, for cesarean/high risk delivery, for monitoring EEG]), regardless of whether the claim involves another same-day charge, such as 99223 (Initial hospital care, per day, for the [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in Revenue Cycle Insider
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more

Other Articles in this issue of

Anesthesia Coding Alert

View All