Wiki medical Direction Question

[ColleenDel]

Can an Anesthesiologist, specializing in pain, perform an e/m service while medically directing a CRNA that is performing MAC procedures in the same, small office suite?

Any help or guidance on this will be much appreciated. If anyone can tell me where to find written information on this from the payers, specific to the above scenario, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

 

[dwaldman]

A physician who is concurrently directing the administration of anesthesia to not more than four surgical patients cannot ordinarily be involved in furnishing additional services to other patients. However, addressing an emergency of short duration in the immediate area, administering an epidural or caudal anesthetic to ease labor pain, or periodic, rather than continuous, monitoring of an obstetrical patient does not substantially diminish the
scope of control exercised by the physician in directing the administration of anesthesia to surgical patients. It does not constitute a separate service for the purpose of determining whether the medical direction criteria are met. Further, while directing concurrent anesthesia procedures, a physician may receive patients entering the operating suite for the next surgery, check or discharge patients in the recovery room, or handle scheduling matters without affecting fee schedule payment.

However, if the physician leaves the immediate area of the operating suite for other than short durations or devotes extensive time to an emergency case or is otherwise not available to respond to the immediate needs of the surgical patients, the physician's services to the surgical patients are supervisory in nature. Carriers may not make payment under the fee schedule.

https://www.cms.gov/manuals/downloads/clm104c12.pdf