A California anesthesiologist has developed an application for the Apple iPhone that gives users quick access to the billing codes for anesthesia services.

The application, called GasCoder, combines Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes with the latest Crosswalk database from the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Users can search by keywords as well as many common abbreviations, such as ORIF—open reduction and internal fixation—to save time. The $149 program (cheaper in bulk) also is available for the touch-screen iPod, another Apple product.

Richard O’Leary, MD, who practices in Silicon Valley, developed the application. “I was thinking if my iPhone could save thousands of songs, e-mail addresses and phone numbers, there had to be a way for it to store and search for anesthesia billing codes,” Dr. O’Leary said in a statement.

GasCoder isn’t the only new anesthesia-related iPhone app on the market. The ultrasound manufacturer SonoSite recently introduced SonoAccess, a free download for the handset that offers scanning tips, video case studies, a gallery of ultrasound images and billing hints.

Both applications are available through Apple at http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/app-store.html.