2023 Anesthesia Conversion Factor: Navigating the Impact

2023 Anesthesia Conversion Factor

On November 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) announced the final rule for the 2023 anesthesia conversion factor (CF) of $20.6097 vs. the current rate for 2022 of $21.5623. This will result in an overall decrease of 4.42 percent in reimbursement for anesthesia services in the upcoming year. The CF reduction will not only affect provider reimbursements but also affect facility O.R. contribution margins.

Provider

The overall impact will vary as the CF rates are based on geographical location. Nevertheless, this reduction may negatively impact providers. The President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Michael W. Champeau, M.D., FASA stated the following in a press release concerning the 2023 CF:

The CMS final rule underscores how the Medicare payment system is broken, especially during a time when anesthesia groups are faced with inflation pressures, the COVID-19 pandemic, and health care worker burnout. ASA has urged and will continue to advocate to Congress and regulatory agencies to minimize and reverse these cuts that negatively impact anesthesiologists and the care they provide to the important Medicare patient population.

Furthermore, these changes may affect the retention and recruitment of an already challenging market to include inflation and the impact of COVID-19. Although this ruling has been published there is momentum being made to reverse these reductions as have been done in the past.

Facility

Facilities with a substantial government payer mix find that their O.R. contribution margins are being negatively impacted due to the rapidly escalating salaries. In addition, the traditional, subsidy-based anesthesia relationship does not provide the flexibility and value-added services required to navigate the upcoming market conditions.

Due to the reduction in rates, facilities acknowledge that a new solution is required to respond better to the challenges in the anesthesia market. The solution combines greater use of data, value-added perioperative consulting, collaboration with your surgical services leadership, and alignment of anesthesia leadership with your goals.