--- title: "Billing for Hospital Anesthesia at Sutter Health" description: "Frequently asked questions on billing and average cost breakdown for anesthesia services at Sutter hospitals." url: "https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/billing-hospital-anesthesia" --- 1. [Home](https://www.sutterhealth.org/) / 2. [Billing and insurance](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance) / 3. [Healthcare Costs and Charges](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges) / 4. Billing for Hospital Anesthesia # Billing for Hospital Anesthesia Services **Section menu** - [Billing and insurance](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance "Billing and insurance") - [Help Paying Your Bill](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/financial-assistance "Help Paying Your Bill") - [Healthcare Costs and Charges](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges "Healthcare Costs and Charges") - [Billing for Hospital Anesthesia](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/billing-hospital-anesthesia "Billing for Hospital Anesthesia") - [Healthcare Cost Transparency](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/cost-transparency "Healthcare Cost Transparency") - [No Surprises Act](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/no-surprises-act "No Surprises Act") - [Non-Contracted Provider Payment Appeal Process](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/non-contracted-provider-payment-appeal-process "Non-Contracted Provider Payment Appeal Process") - [Medicare](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare "Medicare") - [Annual Enrollment Period](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/aep "Annual Enrollment Period") - [Medicare basics](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/medicare-basics "Medicare basics") - [Medicare wellness visits](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/medicare-wellness-visits "Medicare wellness visits") - [Special Enrollment Period](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/sep "Special Enrollment Period") - [Initial Enrollment Period](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/iep "Initial Enrollment Period") - [Late enrollment penalties](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/late-enrollment-penalties "Late enrollment penalties") - [Medicare Related Events](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare-related-events "Medicare Related Events") - [Sutter Medicare Direct](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/sutter-medicare-direct "Sutter Medicare Direct") - [Health Insurance Information Guide](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/health-insurance-information-guide "Health Insurance Information Guide") - [Billing and insurance](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance "Billing and insurance") - [Help Paying Your Bill](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/financial-assistance "Help Paying Your Bill") - [Healthcare Costs and Charges](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges "Healthcare Costs and Charges") - [Billing for Hospital Anesthesia](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/billing-hospital-anesthesia "Billing for Hospital Anesthesia") - [Healthcare Cost Transparency](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/cost-transparency "Healthcare Cost Transparency") - [No Surprises Act](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/no-surprises-act "No Surprises Act") - [Non-Contracted Provider Payment Appeal Process](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/non-contracted-provider-payment-appeal-process "Non-Contracted Provider Payment Appeal Process") - [Medicare](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare "Medicare") - [Annual Enrollment Period](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/aep "Annual Enrollment Period") - [Medicare basics](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/medicare-basics "Medicare basics") - [Medicare wellness visits](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/medicare-wellness-visits "Medicare wellness visits") - [Special Enrollment Period](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/sep "Special Enrollment Period") - [Initial Enrollment Period](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/iep "Initial Enrollment Period") - [Late enrollment penalties](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare/late-enrollment-penalties "Late enrollment penalties") - [Medicare Related Events](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/medicare-related-events "Medicare Related Events") - [Sutter Medicare Direct](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/sutter-medicare-direct "Sutter Medicare Direct") - [Health Insurance Information Guide](https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/health-insurance-information-guide "Health Insurance Information Guide") Sutter care centers provide the following average cost of the hospital anesthesia services per surgery. The costs are based on anesthesia department cost data reported to CMS in Sutter’s Medicare cost reports for the year 2012 and operating room surgery utilization data in the work papers in those reports. These costs don’t include the anesthesiologist’s fees, which are billed separately by the anesthesiologist. ## Cost of Anesthesia Per Surgery by Location | Sutter Hospital | Average Anesthesia
Cost per Surgery | | --- | --- | | Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (Berkeley) | $114 | | California Pacific Medical Center (San Francisco) | $218 | | Memorial Medical Center (Modesto) | $78 | | Memorial Hospital (Los Banos) | $135 | | Sutter Mills Peninsula Medical Center, Burlingame Campus | $187 | | Novato Community Hospital (Novato) | $260 | | Sutter Amador Hospital (Jackson) | $165 | | Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital (Auburn) | $66 | | Sutter Coast Hospital (Crescent City) | $45 | | Sutter Davis Hospital (Davis) | $50 | | Sutter Delta Medical Center (Antioch) | $213 | | Sutter Eden Medical Center (Castro Valley) | $207 | | Sutter Lakeside Hospital (Lakeport) | $101 | | Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz | $148 | | Sutter Medical Center (Sacramento) | $207 | | Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital | $186 | | Sutter Roseville Medical Center (Roseville) | $102 | | Sutter Solano Medical Center (Vallejo) | $70 | | Sutter Tracy Community Hospital (Tracy) | $68 | _\*The averages for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Memorial Hospital Los Banos, Mills-Peninsula, Santa Cruz Maternity & Surgery Center, Sutter Amador Hospital, Sutter Santa Rosa, St Luke’s Hospital are estimated based on internal records, rather than anesthesia cost data reported in the Medicare cost reports. San Leandro Hospital is combined with Sutter Eden Medical Center for nine months of 2012._ **Anesthesia Gases Acquisition Costs for the average patient receiving general anesthesia in the operating room:** Sevoflurane $19.85 Desflurane $24.72 Isoflurane $3.24 Anesthesia Billing Frequently Asked Questions **How are anesthesia services billed?** Your anesthesiologist will bill separately for their professional services, as will your surgeon and the other physicians who provide services for you while you are hospitalized. The hospital will issue a separate bill for all of the services and items the hospital provided during your hospitalization, and that bill will include charges for the hospital’s role in the delivery of anesthesia services. For more information about hospital billings, you may contact your hospital’s financial counseling office. They can provide you with detailed information about billings for hospital services, including estimates of the expected cost of most surgeries and procedures. **How does Sutter Health charge for the hospital's role in providing anesthesia services?** Sutter hospitals charge for the hospital’s role in providing anesthesia services based on the specific type of anesthesia services you receive. ### General Anesthesia There are two levels of general anesthesia in the operating room: complex and standard general anesthesia. We charge one flat amount for complex general anesthesia services for cases lasting up to and including 180 minutes. For cases lasting longer than 180 minutes, there’s a different, higher charge. We use the same basic approach for standard general anesthesia. We charge a flat amount for cases lasting up to and including 180 minutes, and another, higher charge for standard general anesthesia cases that last longer than 180 minutes. This charge structure is designed to reflect the fact that cases lasting over 180 minutes require more hospital resources. If general anesthesia is administered outside of an operating room suite, there’s a single flat charge for the service, regardless of where it takes place in the hospital. There’s a separate pharmacy charge for the anesthetic gas and any other specific drugs used. To find out the amounts of these charges, or any other charges at the hospital where your surgery or procedure will take place, you should contact the financial counseling office at that hospital. ### Regional Anesthesia For monitored anesthesia care or regional anesthesia provided in the operating room, Sutter hospitals have a single flat-rate charge. There are no charges for anesthetic gases because they aren’t used, but there are separate pharmacy charges for the drugs used, including the epidural block and the drugs used for sedation. ### Conscious Sedation For conscious sedation, whether in the operating room or elsewhere in the hospital, there’s a single flat charge for the service, regardless of where it takes place in the hospital. There are no charges for anesthetic gases because they aren’t used, but there are separate pharmacy charges for the drugs used, including the drugs used for sedation. ### Epidurals For epidurals with minimal sedation in the operating room, there will be pharmacy charges for the drugs used, including the epidural block and the drugs used for sedation, but there won’t be a separate anesthesia service charge. The exception to this rule is in the labor and delivery area, where there may be a flat epidural management charge in certain situations. For more details about these charges, and any other hospital charges, you may contact the patient financial counselor or at your hospital. For more information about how Sutter bills for the hospital’s role in providing anesthesia services, you can call Sutter’s Anesthesia Information Line at [916-297-9940.](tel:+1-916-297-9940) **What is the hospital's role in delivering anesthesia services?** The hospital supplies the equipment, supplies and staff required to safely and effectively deliver anesthesia services in the hospital. The specific resources the hospital provides varies depending upon the type of anesthesia and your particular medical condition. The hospital also provides the anesthesia gases and other drugs, which, as noted above, are charged separately through the hospital’s pharmacy. Information about the hospital resources that are directly related to the provision of general anesthesia and regional anesthesia is generally summarized in the Equipment and Service Descriptions section.  **How do Sutter's costs of providing anesthesia relate to the price Sutter charges for anesthesia?** Sutter’s charges for anesthesia services, and for almost all hospital services, exceed the hospital’s allocated costs for those services. We encourage patients to review the table on this page to compare Sutter’s costs to the prices you or your insurer are charged. **Who can I contact for more information regarding Sutter's charges for a Sutter hospital's role in providing anesthesia services?** You may call our Anesthesia Information Line at [916-297-9940](tel:+19162979940). Anesthesia Equipment and Service Descriptions  Sutter identifies the following equipment, supplies and staff that are directly related to the new, flat-charge structure for complex general anesthesia, standard general anesthesia, and monitored anesthesia care or regional anesthesia. **Complex General Anesthesia** - Anesthesia equipment, such as the anesthesia workstation and all components (e.g., gas induction components, ventilator, O2 monitor, CO2 monitor, BIS monitor, EKG, esophageal monitor, blood pressure monitor and pulse rate monitor), Smart IV pumps, rapid infusion pumps, fluid warmers, medical gas tanks, pumps, piping, gas flow monitors, and alarms, and maintenance and upkeep. - Oxygen (excludes all other anesthesia gases billed under Revenue Code 25x). - Instruments used by the anesthesiologist, including regular intubation instruments and scopes, and also those needed for difficult intubations. - Anesthesia-related supplies that aren’t billed separately, including breathing circuits and other supplies. - Anesthesia department staff, such as anesthesia medical device technicians. - Anesthesia-related quality review and assurance staff and resources. - Anesthesia-related patient medical records and records review. - Anesthesia hazardous waste removal. **Standard General Anesthesia** - Anesthesia equipment, such as the anesthesia workstation and all components (e.g., gas induction components, ventilator, O2 monitor, CO2 monitor, BIS monitor, EKG, esophageal monitor, blood pressure monitor, and pulse rate monitor), Smart IV pumps, fluid warmers, medical gas tanks, pumps, piping, gas flow monitors, and alarms, and maintenance and upkeep. - Oxygen (excludes all other anesthesia gases billed under Revenue Code 25x). - Instruments used by the anesthesiologist, including intubation instruments and scopes. - Anesthesia-related supplies that aren’t billed separately, such as breathing circuit, nasal mask, sterile and other supplies. - Anesthesia department staff, such as anesthesia medical device technicians. - Anesthesia-related quality review and assurance staff and resources. - Anesthesia-related patient medical records and records review. - Anesthesia hazardous waste removal. **Monitored Anesthesia Care Regional Anesthesia** - Anesthesia equipment, including the anesthesia workstation and components (e.g., ventilator, O2 monitor, CO2 monitor, EKG, blood pressure monitor and pulse rate monitor), Smart IV pumps, fluid warmers and other anesthesia equipment items. - Oxygen. - Instruments used by the anesthesiologist. - Anesthesia-related supplies that aren’t billed separately, such as the breathing circuit, nasal mask, sterile and other supplies. - Anesthesia department staff, such as anesthesia medical device technicians. - Anesthesia-related quality review and assurance staff and resources. - Anesthesia-related patient medical records and records review. - Anesthesia hazardous waste removal. **New Revenue Code 370 Charge Descriptions** - **Complex General Anesthesia 3 hours or less** — Cmplx Gen Anes < =3 hours - **Complex General Anesthesia more than 3 hours** — Cmplx Gen Anes > 3 hours - **Standard General Anesthesia 3 hours or less** — Stnd Gen Anes <=3 hours - **Standard General Anesthesia more than 3 hours** — Stnd Gen Anes > than 3 hours - **Monitored anesthesia care and regional anesthesia** — Mon Anes Care/Regional _These are new descriptions for the specified services in the OR only._ ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","name":"Billing for Hospital Anesthesia at Sutter Health","description":"Frequently asked questions on billing and average cost breakdown for anesthesia services at Sutter hospitals.","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/billing-hospital-anesthesia","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/billing-hospital-anesthesia#breadcrumblist"}} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges/billing-hospital-anesthesia#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Billing and insurance","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Healthcare Costs and Charges","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/billing-insurance/costs-and-charges"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Billing for Hospital Anesthesia"}]} ```