MANA Spring Conference

Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for more than 150 years. In 1986, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) became the first nursing specialty accorded direct reimbursement rights by Medicare. Well over half of all states have no physician supervision requirements for CRNAs, and since 2001, 17 of those states have also opted out of the federal Medicare physician supervision rule for nurse anesthetists. CRNAs are highly valued in today’s healthcare environment because they deliver the same safe, high-quality anesthesia care as other anesthesia professionals but at a lower cost, helping to control rising healthcare costs.