Q. How long will it take to develop a cash flow from a new practice opportunity?

A. This is a difficult question to answer easily. The general answer to this question is any where from 60-120 days from the date of your first billable anesthesia service. There are however, multiple circumstances that will impact this cash flow development timeline. The greatest impact will come from your preparedness to work with the managed care providers that you have identified are present within your marketplace. Planning for practice implementation can not be stressed more. A rule of thumb used by BCS is that we need to allow for at least 90 days for the contracted managed care payers to process all of the group’s provider’s credentials and set the group / providers up as participating with a particular managed care plan. This 90 day timeline starts once the carrier receives all of the group/provider’s credentials. Remember retroactive billing after participation is granted is generally not allowed. Anesthesia services provided prior to your group’s effective participation date will more than likely be uncollectable.

Q. How are we certain we are maximizing CRNA reimbursement within our facility?

See Answer.

Q. What is the necessity of obtaining an NPI -National Provider Identifier?

See Answer.

Q. Does an entity as well as an individual provider need an NPI?

See Answer.

Q. What does the term "most favored nation" mean as it appears in many third party payer reimbursement agreements and participation agreements?

See Answer.

Q. What is an RFP?

See Answer.

Q. Does it make any difference if I select CPT-4 codes from the Surgical or Anesthesia Sections?

See Answer.

Q. Since the Medicare Modifier -QS is not valid for actual reimbursement calculation, does it really need to be used?

See Answer.

Q. How long will it take to develop a cash flow from a new practice opportunity?

See Answer.

Q. I have graduated from Anesthesia School, but have not taken my certification examination, can I still bill for my services since I have completed my required anesthesia program?

See Answer.

Q. In evaluating a practice opportunity what questions or data should I be requesting from the practice?

See Answer.

Q. I plan to do all of my own procedure and diagnosis coding, -CPT-4 and ICD9-CM coding) is this a good idea?

See Answer.

Q. Is it necessary to have type of contract with a facility/hospital before I commence providing anesthesia services?

See Answer.

Q. Why would I use an ABN-Medicare Beneficiary Advance Benefit Notification document?

See Answer.

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