anesthesia

When billing for the anesthesia during a procedure, can you bill on the facility side of things, the charge for the actual medication for the anesthesia?

Also, can you charge seperatly on the physicain side for the time? We are just startiing to charge for these services, and I want to make sure that they are done the correct way. Thanks for help! Sue

anesthesia

When billing for the anesthesiologist, bill for time. Use the appropriate "zero" code (ie: 00400, 00790, 00300, 00840, etc) along with the total amount of time and include any appropriate lines placed (A-line, CVP, Swan Ganz), any appropriate physical status modifier (P3, P4, P5), along any post-op pain injections or catheter placements adding the correct modifier/s to the pain code (no time can be billed for post-op pain procedures).

Example: Pt has a total knee replacement, and a popliteal nerve block placed for pain management. You would code 01402 as the procedure code, along with the total time, AND you would bill 64450-59 for the pain injection. Be sure that you use the surgical diagnosis code for the surgical procedure (01402) and the post-op pain diagnosis code for the pain procedure (64450-59).

The facility bills for the meds that the anesthesiologists use during the surgery.
(Exception being if the anesthesiologist owns a pain practice, then he will bill as a "surgeon" for his procedure (cannot bill time for these) and can also then bill the medications.)

Hope this helps!