jwk

jwk

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All Content by jwk

  1. Some anesthesiologists clearly work in rural areas, and a majority of CRNA's tend to work in urban centers as well. Using your own statistics... If 70% of anesthetics in rural areas are provided by...
  2. I dunno - why do the majority of CRNA's work in large urban areas? Maybe it's because higher population density = higher need for anesthesia provider. Of course I don't have a study to back that up...
  3. I have a perfect understanding of pass-through and how it works. The law does in fact apply to AA's - I didn't write it - I'm just telling you what is in it in case you weren't quite clear. Clearly...
  4. That's strictly a hospital issue. Plenty of hospitals allow observers - how do you think all those volunteers get in the door? Our hospital actually has some very simple credentialling requirements...
  5. So you're denying that the AANA works to keep the rural pass-through as-is, and seeks to prevent any changes that would allow anesthesiologists to benefit from Part A payment like CRNA's? Just trying...
  6. If that was true everywhere, the AANA wouldn't be fighting so hard to keep it and to bar anesthesiologists from getting
  7. Do you think payors care what your costs are? They only care about what you charge them. You're trying to convince us that CRNA's are cheaper - cheaper to WHOM? It's not the payor, and that's what...
  8. Nice try - the charge to the patient is the same. The cost to the practice doesn't matter. And you know as well as I do that the playing field isn't level for rural hospitals that are able to use...
  9. I have a family member that died in a VA hospital and I saw the poor care he received. I have a family member that receives almost all his medical care from the VA. Marginal at best. I did clinical...
  10. The costs to the PRACTICE is different - the cost to the payor is the same. When you try and claim that CRNA's are the cheapest alternative for something like Medicare, it's simply not true. Y'all...
  11. You guys are still dodging the issue. If we want to use a doc and 4 anesthetists to do 4 cases, that's fine. We're not going to be paid any more by the insurance company than we would if it was 4...
  12. I'm not talking about profit. That's for the hospital/group/practice to determine. It is not the function of Medicare or private insurors to determine the profit to a group or hospital. If the...
  13. Your own article proves my point. Revenues (what the payor actually pays) are the same, whether done by MD only, CRNA only, or an ACT group. I think in our area, a Medicare unit is about $17. If...
  14. It's common sense. At a certain point, cheaper can't be better. Look at the care provided in government-run hospitals now, both at the federal, state, and local level. Those patients that have a...
  15. The AHA doesn't support it because some hospitals would prefer to employ CRNA's so they can bill for them and keep a share of the professional fee. The difference in an ACT practice is that same fee...
  16. No surgeon = no anesthesia - pretty simple
  17. But a LOT of places won't hire them without anesthesiologists. If they exist at all, hospitals routinely doing big cases - and I mean open heart, major vascular, major peds, major neuro - are going...
  18. And that was my point - cheaper isn't always better. My group doesn't take stipends. Others do, including all-CRNA groups. I don't begrudge them that money for a second. If 24/7 coverage is...
  19. Just so everyone is clear, this is from an opinion blog from The Hill. It would be much like posting an item on a forum such as allnurses.com. It is NOT a fact-based article or a piece of...
  20. I present a different opinion - that's not being trollish. Unfortunately, the MD / CRNA / AA debate will continue to rage on for the forseeable future. My viewpoint, and whether you agree with me or...
  21. As I've pointed out frequently, AA's were not created as a method of control. Please try to remember that a majority of CRNA's practice in ACT practices, and that those practicing independently are...
  22. This is of course your goal. There is no altruistic "lets save our poor government a few bucks" concept going on here. It's dollars and competition plain and simple. You want it all and don't want...
  23. Again, there are exceptions built in to the rule to deal with
  24. Again - your comment was "the vast majority of anesthesia cases do not meet TEFRA requirements" That comment is not supported by the study you just quoted. The editorial comment Journal...
  25. Don't ya just hate it when facts get in the way of