When anesthesia time starts and stops
Anesthesia time starts when the anesthesia provider begins preparing the patient for anesthesia care in the operating room or an equivalent area. It ends when the provider is no longer in personal attendance, once the patient can be safely placed under post-anesthesia supervision.
How Medicare counts it
Medicare uses the actual minutes reported and converts them to units at one unit per 15 minutes. Commercial payers may round to whole units or use other increments, so the contract matters.
Where money is lost
- Start times recorded at incision instead of when anesthesia care began
- End times missing or rounded down
- Breaks in continuous anesthesia time not handled correctly
- Different payer rounding rules applied the same way
See also: the anesthesia billing formula.
This article is general information, not billing, legal or tax advice. Payer rules change; always check current guidance.
Sources
Free checklist
Anesthesia Record Documentation Checklist
What every anesthesia record needs so the claim is coded correctly and holds up in an audit.
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