Anesthesiology coding is a distinct specialty within the field of medical coding, requiring a particular skill set as well as mastery of both the CPT coding paradigm and the ASA coding system. They must be familiar with surgical and obstetric coding guidelines, as well as anesthesiology restrictions. Add to that the knowledge required to code pain management procedures, which includes E&M services, radiology, and surgical coding, and you have a very specialized job description that necessitates advanced anesthesia coding training, mentoring, hands-on experience, and ongoing updating and supervision.

Anesthesiology is concerned with the complete perioperative treatment of patients before to, during, and after surgery. The main feature of the specialty is the safe use of anesthesia and anesthetics to support crucial functions during the perioperative period.An anesthesiologist gives the appropriate medicine dosage to the patient so that he or she does not experience pain or regain consciousness during surgery. They are also in charge of rousing the patient up after surgery. During operation, they closely check the patient’s vital signs and adjust the dosage accordingly.

What Are The Three Types Of Anesthesia?

Anesthesia is classified into three types: general, local, and conscious sedation. The most dangerous type of anesthesia is general anesthesia, which causes a person to go completely unconscious. When a person is put under general anesthesia, the doctors (and anesthesiologists) must keep all of the patient’s bodily functions, including respiration, going. The numbing of a specific bodily part or region of the body is referred to as local anaesthesia. The process of heavily sedating but not completely anaesthetizing a patient is referred to as conscious sedation. A patient under conscious sedation can react verbally to queries and commands and does not require any intervention to maintain physical functions like cardio or respiratory.

Anesthesia codes are always associated with surgical codes. After all, we wouldn’t just anaesthetize someone for the sake of anaesthesia. Whenever a surgical procedure that involves anesthesia is performed, we must always have an Anesthesia code along with the surgery codes. This Anesthesia code refers to the location of the surgery on the body. Codes for anaesthesia are “bundled.” That is, each Anesthesia code covers a number of items, such as the anesthesiologist’s pre- and post-operative visits, the monitoring of body functions (in the event of general or large-scale local anaesthesia), the administration of the anaesthetic, and so on. That is, you will not find particular process codes for the examination of the patient or the administration of an intravenous anesthetic—both are covered by the general procedure codes.

The Need for Anesthesiology and Pain Management Coding:

The ability of an anesthesiology service to earn and collect revenue is critical to its success. An experienced and trained revenue cycle staff, specialty-specific billing software, and compliant billing processes are all required for successful anesthetic billing. When submitting your claims, there are no “practice runs”; they must be correct the first time. The legal and financial ramifications of up-coding or undervaluation errors are substantial. Without well-trained anesthesiology coding professionals such projects are difficult to handle, hence learning Anesthesia coding from Erendiz Academy will give you confidence to work and add value to company. Coders learning anesthesiology and pain management from Erendiz Academy are twice likely to be certified, which is the symbol of quality training.

The following topics are covered in this course:

• Expertise in assigning proper medical codes for anesthetic and pain management operations and services Knowledge of medical codes, payment regulations, and reimbursement guidelines
• Capability to process and handle rule reimbursement changes in a timely and correct manner
• Maintain knowledge of various anesthetic and pain management treatments.
• An understanding of anatomy and physiology, as well as medical terminology
• Analytical attitude with a keen eye for detail.
• Selecting the proper CPT codes for surgical cases and cross-walking to the appropriate Anesthesia codes
• Correct application of commonly used modifiers in anesthetic instances
• Determine time units and total units for anesthetic instances.
• Medicare billing rules and restrictions, including but not limited to teaching settings, shared visits, consultations, and worldwide surgery
• Coding in accordance with the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI), ICD-10-CM, CPT, and Modifiers
• E/M coding based on the Documentation Guidelines and CPT guidelines from 1995 and 1997. Based on the case note provided, you must determine which set of guidelines apply.
• Medical jargon, anatomy, and physiology
  
  

AAPC CANPC New Exam Structure

• 100 multiple-choice questions (proctored)
• 4 hours to complete the exam
• Open Code Books (manuals)

• 70% passing score required
  
  

Mode of Training

• Online
• Classroom