Coder II - Anesthesia
Posted Sep 25, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Which certification do you hold, AAPC or AHIMA, and how have you kept your anesthesia knowledge current with yearly CPT and ICD-10-CM changes?
What they are checking: Whether they treat coding as a field that changes every year and actively keep up rather than relying on old habits.
Tell me about a time a provider pushed back on a query you sent. How did you handle it?
What they are checking: Whether they can hold to coding guidelines while keeping a respectful working relationship with physicians and CRNAs.
This role is remote and full time on first shift. How do you structure your day to hit productivity targets without sacrificing accuracy?
What they are checking: Whether they can self-manage in a remote production setting where both speed and quality are measured.
Tell me about a time you made a coding error that was caught in an audit. What happened and what changed afterward?
What they are checking: Whether they own mistakes openly and build a habit from them, which matters in a role reviewed for accuracy.
What would you do
An anesthesia record shows a start time but the end time is missing or doesn't match the OR log. What do you do?
What they are checking: Whether they query rather than guess when documentation is incomplete, which is the line between careful and risky coding.
You notice a pattern of denials for one anesthesia group. How would you figure out whether it's a coding problem, a documentation problem or a payer problem?
What they are checking: Whether they can trace root causes instead of just reworking claims one at a time.
About the work
Walk me through how you calculate anesthesia time and base units for a case, and where you see coders most often get the time wrong.
What they are checking: Whether they truly understand anesthesia billing math, since time errors are the most common source of anesthesia denials.
How do you decide between the AA, QK, QX, QY and QZ modifiers on an anesthesia claim?
What they are checking: Whether they know medical direction rules well enough to assign CRNA and anesthesiologist modifiers correctly without looking each one up.
When would you add a physical status modifier or a qualifying circumstances code, and how do you confirm the record supports it?
What they are checking: Whether they code extra units only from documentation, not from habit, which protects the system in an audit.
How do you code a separately billable procedure like an arterial line, central line or post-op pain block done by the anesthesia provider?
What they are checking: Whether they know which add-on procedures are separately payable and how NCCI edits affect them in anesthesia.
How do you pick the right ICD-10-CM diagnosis for an anesthesia claim when the surgeon's post-op diagnosis differs from the pre-op one?
What they are checking: Whether they know to code from the most definitive documented diagnosis, which affects medical necessity and payment.
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As published by Advocate Health.