Source: American Academy of Family Physicians’ Advocacy Insider
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2019 Draft Physician Fee Schedule and the American Academy of Family Physicians has prepared an initial summary of the regulation.
Of note, CMS plans to update the 1995 and 1997 documentation requirements related to E/M visits, projecting a savings of 51 hours per physician per year in decreased administrative burden. Also on the E/M front, CMS proposes to collapse payment for office and outpatient visits so that payment for new patient office visits levels 2 through 5 (99202-99205) would be blended into a single $135 payment. Payment for established patient office visits level 2 through 5 (99212-99215) would be blended into a single $93 payment. New codes would also be created to provide add-on payments to office visits for specific specialties ($9) and primary care physicians ($5). Medicare would pay physicians for their time when they reach out to beneficiaries via telephone or other telecommunications to decide whether an office visit or other service is needed. CMS also proposes to pay for the time it takes physicians to review a video or image sent by a patient seeking care or diagnosis for an ailment. Regarding proposed changes to the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), CMS proposes to establish the 2019 performance year weights as:
- Quality: 45%
- Cost: 15%
- Promoting Interoperability: 25%
- Improvement Activities: 15%.
The AAFP is analyzing the proposed regulations and is preparing comments for submission prior to the September deadline. The Ohio Academy of Family Physicains will continue to keep members updated.