For referring practices
Working with Dr. Rad.
Most dentists considering anesthesia support have the same questions, and they are practical ones. What does my office need to provide, who carries the liability, do I need my own permit, how does billing work, and what does it do to my schedule. Answered below.
What your office provides
What a dental office needs to provide
Very little, in practice. The complete anesthesia setup arrives with Dr. Rad and is prepared in your operatory before the patient does. That includes monitoring, airway management equipment, anesthetic medications, and emergency drugs. Everything is removed afterward.
Your practice is not asked to purchase, store, maintain, or account for anesthesia equipment or controlled substances.
What the office does need is space to work around the chair, an accessible power supply, and a room where a patient can recover under observation before leaving.
Dr. Rad will walk through the operatory before the first case and confirm the arrangement in advance.
Permits and responsibility
Who holds the anesthesia permit, and who carries the liability
The permit is held by the anesthesiologist. Dr. Rad holds general anesthesia permit MGA 390 with pediatric endorsement, issued by the Dental Board of California, and carries his own malpractice coverage. The anesthesia permit and the responsibility for the anesthetic sit with him.
You do not need to hold a sedation or general anesthesia permit in order for a patient in your chair to receive anesthesia from a physician anesthesiologist.
The anesthesiologist bears responsibility for confirming that the facility meets the minimum safety standards required for the level of anesthesia being administered, which is part of the pre-case walkthrough.
Dr. Rad also serves as an appointed General Anesthesia Evaluator for the Dental Board of California, which means the standards he applies to a facility are the ones the State applies.
The case day
What happens on the day of the case
Before the day
Dr. Rad performs the pre-operative evaluation, reviewing medical history, medications, prior anesthesia, and airway. Where the patient is medically complex, this may include contacting the treating physician. Fasting instructions go to the patient or family.
Setup
Equipment arrives and is set up and checked before the patient is seated. Typical setup time is short and does not delay the start of your day.
During treatment
Dr. Rad administers and monitors the anesthetic for the entire case and adjusts depth as the procedure requires. You concentrate on the dentistry.
Recovery
The patient is monitored until awake and stable. Written aftercare instructions are given to the family, and Dr. Rad remains reachable afterward.
Billing
How anesthesia is billed
Anesthesia is billed separately from your dental treatment. The arrangement does not run through your practice's billing, and your fee schedule is unaffected.
Specific arrangements are discussed directly, since they depend on the case type and the patient's circumstances.
The practical benefit is that you gain the ability to treat patients who would otherwise be referred out — children, patients with special needs, and adults whose anxiety or medical history has kept them from care — without adding cost or complexity to your own practice.
Related: bringing anesthesia to your office and how a case is run.
Contact
Discuss a case.
Dr. Rad handles inquiries from practices directly. There is no form on this site. Full contact details are on the contact page.