As private payers review and revise their fee schedules, CRNAs appear to be losing ground financially. Ironically, payers may be accepting the AANA argument that nurse anesthesia represents a more cost-effective option.
A number of plans now pay less for QX and QZ than they do for AA and QK cases. QZ has become the emblem and beacon of an alternative model of care. None of us knows for sure where this will end up, but one thing is now very clear—there is no going back. QZ has become yet another layer of complexity in an already complex set of anesthesia management challenges.
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