Anesthesia information management systems: A survey of current implementation policies and practices

BACKGROUND: Anesthesia information management systems (AIMS) implementation is increasing, but there are no published recommendations from anesthesia professional societies to guide configuration and policy decisions that affect billing, security, medical-legal, and compliance issues. METHODS: A 45-question structured survey was developed by a committee of the Society for Technology in Anesthesia and was sent to the clinical administrator at 18 separate institutions, comprising six different installed AIMS systems. The primary goal of the survey was to establish a baseline of current policies and practices. RESULTS: There was more than two-third agreement among respondents for only 25% of questions. A number of configurations reported may increase exposure to billing denial, Medicare and Medicaid noncompliance, security breeches, and medical-legal defense difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Developing guidelines by anesthesia professional organizations such as Society for Technology in Anesthesia to assist in the configuration of AIMS is recommended to help anesthesia departments avoid problems that may result in significant financial and legal risk.