According to the ASA, the following two clarifications have been added:
- The definition of what is considered “immediately available” during the supervision of CRNAs and AAs was modified to allow an anesthesiologists to be considered “immediately available” if they are physically located in the procedure suite, rather than in the procedure room, as previously required.
- With respect to the requirement for the post-anesthesia evaluation, the sentence that previously read, “For outpatients, the post-anesthesia evaluation must be completed prior to discharge” has been deleted. The effect of this deletion is that the post-anesthesia evaluation, while still required to be completed within 48 hours after surgery, does not need to be completed prior to discharge of the patient following outpatient surgery.
Read the ASA’s release about the CMS interpretive guidelines.
