Current Trends in Reporting Surgical Assistants

Why Should You Attend:

This training will review specific surgical assistant reimbursements for many of the large insurance carriers, as well as specifically look at the guidelines by CMS which apply to Medicare patients.  This will include the rules for utilizing an assistant at surgery in a teaching hospital. Many practices need to consider if the non physician practitioner will be feasible based on the reimbursement they can receive for assisting, or can they be utilized for other services that may be more profitable instead of assisting at surgery.

This training will equip participants with with the knowledge necessary to make quick and right decisions regarding the use of assistants at surgery in any practice.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Utilization of the Relative Value File for assist at surgery information
• Other resources available for reviewing whether assistants at surgery will be accepted
• CMS Teaching hospital rules for assistants at surgery
• Modifiers assigned to assistants at surgery
• Suggested documentation necessary
• Expected reimbursement

Who Will Benefit:

This webinar will provide valuable assistance to all providers who utilize assistants at surgery, or those that are considering hiring non physician providers to assist in surgery. The individuals who will benefit include:

• Physicians
• Non physician providers
• Physician Coders
• Surgery Schedulers
• Office Administrators and Financial Staff

Instructor Profile:

Lynn Anderanin, CPC,CPC-I, COSC is the Sr. Director Coding Compliance and Education for Healthcare Information Services, a physician billing and consulting service in the Chicagoland, area. She has over 30 years experience in all areas of the physician practice including Practice Administrator, Billing Manager, and Director of Operations. Her experience is primarily in the specialties of Orthopedics, Rheumatology, and Hematology/Oncology. She has been a speaker for many conferences, including the AAPC National Conferences and Workshops, Community Colleges, audio conferences, and Local Chapters. Lynn became a CPC in 1993, and a Certified Instructor in 2002, and a Certified Orthopedic Surgery Coder in 2009. Lynn is the founder of the first local Chapter of the AAPC in Chicago, which is now 16 years old, and a former member of the AAPC National Advisory Board as well as other Committees for the AAPC.

Topic Background:

As the employment and use of non physician practitioners becomes more common, and there are several different organizations certifying to be surgical assistants, many of these providers are assisting in surgery with the physician, however, many procedures are not considered complicated enough to require an assistant. Insurance companies rely on different resources on whether or not they will reimburse for an assistant at surgery by CPT code. There are other specific rules regarding the use of an assistant at surgery whether a non physician provider or even a physician. Modifiers also play a role in reporting assistants at surgery to the insurance carriers for proper assistant surgery reimbursement.

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