Anesthesia Services - Payments for Personally Performed Services

Physicians must report the appropriate anesthesia modifier code to denote whether the service was personally performed or medically directed (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Pub. No. 10004, Ch. 12, § 50). Reporting an incorrect service code modifier on the claim as if services were personally performed by an anesthesiologist when they were not will result in Medicare paying a higher amount. The service code AA modifier is used for anesthesia services personally performed by an anesthesiologist, whereas, the QK modifier limits payment to 50 percent of the Medicare allowed amount for personally performed services claimed with the AA modifier. Payments to any service provider are precluded unless the provider has furnished the information necessary to determine the amounts due (SSA § 1833(e)). We will review Medicare Part B claims for personally performed anesthesia services to determine whether they were supported in accordance with Medicare requirements. We will also determine whether Medicare payments for anesthesia services reported on a claim with the AA service code modifier met Medicare requirements.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Removed	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Anesthesia Services - Payments for Personally Performed Services	Office of Audit Services	W-00-17-35706; various reviews	Not Applicable