In my hospital, our anesthesia department provides screening/clearance for patient's scheduled for surgery. EVERY patient scheduled for surgery at our hospital in seen by a NP (working under anesthesia dept). We obviously do not bill these screenings but the decline in cancellation rates of surgeries has been our primary goal of this program.
Now my question -there are times when the patient's ailments, such as cardiac issues, previous problems with anesthesia, etc cause concern and would necessitate a consult with an anesthesia MD to give an opinion of whether the patient is healthy enough to withstand the surgery under anesthesia.
With the proper criteria, the 3 R's of a consult, there should be no reason why our Anesthesia MD couldn't bill for a consult in those cases. Am I right? Any input would be appreciated.
Now my question -there are times when the patient's ailments, such as cardiac issues, previous problems with anesthesia, etc cause concern and would necessitate a consult with an anesthesia MD to give an opinion of whether the patient is healthy enough to withstand the surgery under anesthesia.
With the proper criteria, the 3 R's of a consult, there should be no reason why our Anesthesia MD couldn't bill for a consult in those cases. Am I right? Any input would be appreciated.