Effective date January 1, 2015Implementation date: January 5, 2015 SummaryThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released an emergency update to Medicare physician fee schedule database payment files. With the emergency release, CMS amended those payment files, including an updated conversion factor of $35.7547 for services furnished between January 1, 2015, and March…

Anesthesia Furnished in Conjunction with Colonoscopy  Section 4104 of the Affordable Care Act defined the term “preventive services” to include “colorectal cancer screening tests” and as a result it waives any coinsurance that would otherwise apply under Section 1833(a)(1) of the Act for screening colonoscopies. In addition, the Affordable Care Act amended Section 1833(b)(1) of…

The revised conversion factors for use in calculating payment for anesthesia services (procedure codes 00100 through 01999) for service dates January 1 through February 29, 2012, are as follows: Participating Physician      Nonparticipating Physician 21.44                                    20.37 The conversion factors for non-medically directed certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are identical to the participating physician anesthesia conversion factors…

The revised conversion factors for use in calculating payment for anesthesia services (procedure codes 00100 through 01999) for service dates January 1 through February 29, 2012, are as follows: Locality    Participating Physician       Nonparticipating Physician 03             23.41                               22.24 04             24.97                               23.72 99 (01 & 02)  22.35                         21.23 The conversion factors for non-medically directed certified registered nurse…

Unusual Circumstances – CRNA and Anesthesiologist In unusual circumstances, when it is medically necessary for both the CRNA and the anesthesiologist to be completely and fully involved during a procedure, full payment for the services of each provider is allowed. Each provider must submit documentation to support payment of the full fee. The physician would…

ANESTHESIA SERVICES Medical and Surgical Services Rendered in Addition to Anesthesia Procedures Payment may be made under the fee schedule for specific medical and surgical services by theanesthesiologist as long as these services are reasonable and medically necessary or providedother rebundling provisions do not preclude separate payment. These services may be renderedin conjunction with the…