2006 proposed fee schedule - American Society of Clinical Oncology

and includes the usual pre-operative and post-operative
care. Anesthesia time units are computed (in 15 minute
118
increments) from the actual elapsed time for the anesthesia
procedure.
Anesthesia services may be personally performed by the
anesthesiologist, or the anesthesiologist may medically
direct qualified individuals involved in up to four
concurrent anesthesia cases. Qualified individuals can
include anesthesiologist assistants (AAs), certified
registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), interns, or
residents, and, under certain circumstances, student nurse
anesthetists. When the anesthesiologist medically directs
an anesthesia case, the payment for the physician’s medical
direction service is 50 percent of the allowance otherwise
recognized if the anesthesiologist personally performed the
service. The physician would have to fulfill each of the
medical direction criteria in §415.110(a) to bill under the
medical direction policy.
2. Teaching Physician Payment Policy
Under the teaching physician payment policy for complex
surgery, the full fee schedule payment can be made for the
services of the teaching physician as long as the teaching
physician is present with the resident for the critical or
key portions of the service. In order to bill for two