Anesthesiologists Are Affiliated with Many Hospitals Only Reporting Anesthesia Claims Using Modifier QZ for Medicare Claims in 2013

Thomas R. Miller, Amr Abouleish, Nicholas M. Halzack

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examined hospitals that exclusively used the billing modifier QZ in anesthesia claims for a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries in 2013. We used a national Medicare provider file to identify physician anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists affiliated with these hospitals. Among the 538 hospitals that exclusively reported the modifier QZ, 47.5% had affiliated physician anesthesiologists. These hospitals accounted for 60.4% of the cases. Our results illustrate the challenges of using modifier QZ to describe anesthesia practice arrangements in hospitals. The modifier QZ does not seem to be a valid surrogate for no anesthesiologist being involved in the care provided.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)217-219
Number of pages3
JournalA & A case reports
Volume6
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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