Wiki Simple Anesthesia billing questions

Hayley_Sutton

Contributor
Messages
14
Location
Mebane, NC
Best answers
0
Hi, I will begin to bill for anesthesia in a GI practice soon. I have some basic question that I am having trouble getting answered.

1. For the units on the claim form do I put the time that we used the units that I calculate.

EX: If I have a patient who is a ASA P1 and is coming in for a colonoscopy. Total anesthesia time 60 minutes and they have no other qualifying circumstances.

Would I put on the claim 60 minutes or Would I put the units calculated below?

Colonoscopy base units (00810) = 5 units
P1 status = 0 units
Total time 60 minutes/ 15 = 4 units
TOTAL UNITS = 9 units

2. Do I include these status modifiers (P1, P2...) on the claim?


Thanks!!


Hayley Sutton, CPC-A
 
Jerone Mack

CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) use minutes. Jerone Mack, CPC
 
Last edited:
Anesthesia Basics

Hi Hayley,
The best piece of advice I can provide you is to find your states BCBS Anesthesia Services for Gastointestinal Endoscopic Procedures.
You will want to acclimate yourself on the Policy, and refer to it when you are coding your charges.
It is important to not only make sure you are entering your charge(s) correctly but coding them correctly too. You will find that providing all the information upfront will also decrease the amount of denials you will receive from BCBS.
Another thing I would recommend is to make a one page cheat sheet - put all your ANA information on it and have it at hand while you work.
Make sure you list all the modifiers you may use (the common ones for me are QK, QX, QY, QZ and QS). You will add notes and useful tips as you start your journey as a anesthesia coder.
Good luck!
Dana Chock, CPC, CCA, CANPC, CHONC, CPMA, CPB
Anesthesia, Pathology and Laboratory coder
 
Top