Wiki Rounding up of anesthesia units

[muem7m]

Can someone share with how they are rounding up anesthesia units. We have seen anesthesia units rounded up at the 8 minute mark and we have seen units rounded up to the next unit 1 minute after each 15 minute increment. I know that CMS rounds up at the 8 minute mark but just curious on how others are doing this.

 

[LeslieJ]

A good way to round up units is to consider the "half-way" mark. If a unit = 15, a good half-way mark might be 7 or 8 minutes.

Having said that, I caution you as some payers have their own idea of when to round up. Sometimes it's spelled out in the payer contracts; sometimes it's in their anesthesia provider manuals.

Don't shoot yourself in the foot by applying the wrong formula!

If you don't have access to the payer contracts, contact the customer service rep for the payer & go from there. They may even be able to show you were it might be online.

LJ