Source: AAFP Washington, DC, Office
On July 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2017 proposed Medicare physician fee schedule. The American Academy of Family Physicians created a summary of this proposed rule for members and will provide detailed comments to CMS before the due date of Tuesday, September 6.
- Non-face-to-face prolonged evaluation and management services
- Comprehensive assessment and care planning for patients with cognitive impairment
- Primary care practices to use inter-professional care management resources to treat behavioral health conditions
- Resource costs of furnishing visits to patients with mobility-related impairments
- Chronic care management (CCM) for patients with greater more complex conditions.
In addition, CMS proposes to reduce the administrative burden associated with the CCM codes to eliminate potential barriers to furnishing and billing for these services. CMS also will revalue existing CPT codes describing face-to-face prolonged services.
For 2017, CMS estimates the conversion factor to be $35.7751, which is slightly lower than the 2016 conversion factor of $35.8043. However, compared to all other specialties, family physicians are projected to receive an estimated 3% increase in Medicare allowed charges based on the provisions of the propose rule. This increase is the largest estimated update for a specialty.
CMS also proposes to add several codes to the list of services eligible to be furnished via telehealth, including Advance Care Planning services and critical care consultations furnished via telehealth using new Medicare G-codes.