The 2006 editions of the ASA Relative Value Guide™, the CROSSWALK® and the Reverse CROSSWALK™ will be available in early November. They have been updated to include all new and revised codes for 2006. You may order them from ASA’s Publications Department at (847) 825-5586 or <publications@ASAhq.org>.

The 2006 Relative Value Guide is available in print and on a CD-ROM. New this year are:

• The ASA statement Distinguishing Monitored Anesthesia Care (MAC) from Moderate Sedation/Analgesia (Conscious Sedation) as approved by the ASA House of Delegates on October 27, 2004.

• A change in the wording of one of the methods used to determine professional charges for neuraxial labor analgesia in order to provide clarification:

Old text: Basic units plus patient contact time (insertion, management of adverse events, delivery, removal) plus one unit hourly.

New text: Base units plus one unit per hour for neuraxial analgesia management plus direct patient contact time (insertion, management of adverse events, delivery, removal).

The 2006 CROSSWALK is available in print and on a CD-ROM. New features for 2006 include:

• Instructions on the proper use of anesthesia add-on codes +01953, +01968 and +01969.

• Coding instructions within CROSSWALK entries to help the user determine when it may be more appropriate to select one of the anesthesia codes provided as an alternate.

• Enhanced spacing between CROSSWALK entries to make the printed version easier to use.

The 2006 Reverse CROSSWALK is offered on CD-ROM. It lists each anesthesia code and links it to the surgical codes that cross to that anesthesia code. The 2006 edition includes both the primary and alternate crosses.