Outpatient Surgery Magazine editorial board member Jay Horowitz, CRNA, penned a guest column for the Sarasota Herald Tribune entitled, "A pain-free way to improve health care."
Mr. Horowitz rails against the physician supervision requirement for CRNAs, saying it has led to overstaffing and created an inefficient system for delivery and reimbursement for anesthesia services. He calls on federal lawmakers to pass another rule lifting the CRNA supervision requirement.
"No longer would surgical facilities perceive a need to follow the arcane, inefficient anesthesia billing rules that have led to facilities (and, by extension, taxpayers) paying anesthesia groups millions in stipends," writes Mr. Horowitz. "No longer would an anesthesia provider shortage exist, as anesthesiologists erroneously bound to a supervision model would be free to actually provide anesthetics.
"No longer would the federal government pay for anesthesia time while waiting for an anesthesiologist to become available to start a procedure when a fully qualified CRNA is present. No longer would anesthesia groups place themselves in peril of committing billing fraud by trying to follow almost unworkable billing rules."
—Dan O’Connor
