Anesthesia Coding Alert

Question: Is there a reasonable standard for the amount of time that should be allowed between cases? I have been finding notes on charge slips that the anesthesiologists sometimes seem to be finishing one case and starting another within the next couple of minutes.

Florida Subscriber  
Answer: The time between cases depends on the physician and patient. Short times are not unreasonable. For example, a patient is discharged to a recovery-room nurse at 10 a.m. The anesthesiologist leaves the recovery room at 10 a.m. and goes directly to see the next patient in the holding area. This takes one minute. The operating-room (OR) nurse informs the physician that they are ready for the patient in surgery. The anesthesiologist goes into surgery, and it may not even be 10:05 a.m. Other short times between cases happen because the physician has a nurse or resident escort the patient to the postanesthesia care unit instead of doing it himself, or other staff set up and prepare the rooms for cases. There are no written guidelines about appropriate amounts of time between cases. Be sure the physician documents everything and is finished with one case before beginning another.