Monitored Anesthesia Care (MAC)

Monitored anesthesia care is a specific anesthesia service in which an anesthesiologist or CRNA has been requested to participate in the care of a patient undergoing a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure.

Monitored anesthesia care includes all aspects of anesthesia care: a pre-procedure visit, intraprocedure care and postprocedure anesthesia management. During monitored anesthesia care, the anesthesiologist or CRNA must be continuously physically present and provide a number of specific services, including but not limited to:

• Monitoring of vital signs, maintenance of the patient’s airway and continual evaluation of vital functions;

• Diagnosis and treatment of clinical problems that occur during the procedure;
 

• Administration of sedatives, analgesics, hypnotics, anesthetic agents or other medications as necessary to ensure patient safety and comfort;
 

• Provision of other medical services as needed to accomplish the safe completion of the procedure;
 

• Anesthesia care often includes the administration of doses of medications for which the loss of normal protective reflexes or loss of consciousness is likely. Monitored anesthesia care refers to those clinical situations in which the patient remains able to protect the airway for the majority of the procedure. If, for an extended period, the patient is rendered unconscious
and/or loses normal protective reflexes, then anesthesia care shall be considered a general anesthetic.