Aug 5, 2019 | ASC, Hospitals, Imaging, Medicare, Outpatient, Physician Fee Schedule
CMS has released a Congressionally-mandated proposal to revamp Medicare FFS payments for radiation treatment. This brief provides a summary of the proposal. Click to read more
Aug 2, 2019 | Managed Care Friday
1. 59: Percent of school teachers and administrators in our poll of 1,306 last month who say 2 of their top 3 challenges they need help addressing in the next school year are health related—autism and mental health. 2. Jet Blues: The airline operator now will give its employees access to psychologists and psychiatrists 7 days a week at $20 a session. 3. Pre Approval Coming: BCBS of Texas will require pre approval starting at the end of August for genetic testing and sleep studies. Evicore will handle the decisions. 4. Lung Outcomes: Kramer took dog pills to treat his chronic respiratory...
Aug 2, 2019 | Medicare, Physician Fee Schedule, Physicians
In the recently released 2020 proposed update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, CMS proposes another major revamp of evaluation and management office visit (E/M) codes following last year’s final rule. While the AMA-developed proposal would result in big payment increases and simplification of billing for E/M codes, offsetting those increases would result in big cuts to some physician specialties that don’t bill E/M codes or have their own E/M-type codes. Click to read more.
Jun 7, 2019 | Managed Care Friday
1. 345: The number of moms and dads we polled about a seemingly mundane question – how they decide where to go for healthcare. Moms seem more thoughtful – relying on their OBGYN or their neighbor who’s a pediatrician, or Dr. Oz and NPR, while Dads, somewhat predictably, rely on ‘it getting better without them doing anything or, increasingly, the nearest urgent care. Moms are more often changing doctors and more thoughtful about where to go and whose advice to use. Unlike Elaine of Seinfeld fame who failed to change doctors because her last one wrote in her medical record that she was too...
Jun 4, 2019 | MedPAC, Physician Fee Schedule, Physicians
In its annual March Report, MedPAC paints a fairly stable picture of physician payments in the post-SGR, early MIPS period, with the gap between Medicare and commercial rates maintaining a similar level over the past few years. MedPAC also reiterated some past positions including a call for increased payments for primary care and a continued criticism of the MIPS physician payment program. Click to read more.
