Tony Mira, founder of anesthesia billing and software company Anesthesia Business Consultants, explained the importance of a quality physical status assessment before undergoing anesthesia in a July 5 Anesthesia Business Consultants blog post.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists developed the physical status classification system over 60 years ago for assessing and communicating a patient's medical comorbidities before receiving anesthesia.
"Beyond the compliance requirement, the American Society of Anesthesiologists level may be critical to establishing medical necessity and thus, ultimately, payment, in certain cases," wrote Mr. Mira.
He explained that some commercial and Medicare medical policies decide provider reimbursement based on the patient's comorbidities and/or physical status. He referred to one medical policy stating that payment may not be issued unless the patient had a documented physical status of three or higher. To be assigned a level three, a provider must document whether a patient's body mass index is 40 or more. He stressed the importance of assessing every patient thoroughly to accurately assign physical status level.
"Keeping in mind the clinical, legal and financial implications of the physical status component of the medical record, anesthesia providers would do well to thoroughly review the ASA's helpful classification table and use extra care in obtaining and documenting their patients' true physical status," wrote Mr. Mira.