The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule for 2022 contained a 3.71% decrease in the Conversion Factor (CF), as we reported in our recent review of the rule. However, after lobbying by physicians and their representative organizations, Congress passed the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act (the Act) that rolls back most of that cut and boosts the fee schedule that was contained in the MPFS Final Rule by 3%. We calculate that the CF for 2022 will therefore be $34.6062 instead of $33.5983, although the exact figure has not yet been released.
Categories:
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
On January 1, 2022, radiology practices and hospitals that perform certain imaging services for Medicare patients will be denied payment for those services unless they submit documentation that the ordering physician has consulted a Clinical Decision Support (CDS) system. This regulation was included a few years ago in Medicare rulemaking, but its effective date has been delayed several times. As of now, there is no reason to believe it will be postponed further, so practices that have not yet taken steps to install and implement a system have a narrow window of opportunity to get ready.
Categories:
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
nuclear medicine,
CT imaging,
MRI,
CDS,
radiology,
AUC,
referring physicians,
PET,
2022 payment impact
When the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule was published in December, it looked like radiology was facing a significant cut in Medicare reimbursement for 2021. Our article reported that professional component fees would drop 10-11% while global reimbursement would see a lesser impact. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) rolled back those cuts at least for 2021, although the Medicare fee schedule for radiology will likely continue to be adjusted downward in the future as implementation of the revalued Evaluation and Management (E&M) services is fully phased in.
Categories:
radiology reimbursement,
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
MPFS,
radiology
The “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” (CAA) is a sweeping piece of legislation that provides relief to individuals and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Some of the relief provisions apply to all businesses, including medical practices, but it also contains several measures that specifically apply to medical practices.
Categories:
radiology reimbursement,
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
radiology,
surprise billing,
Paycheck Protection Program
One of the fastest and easiest sources of emergency funding available to practices at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic was the Medicare Accelerated and Advanced Payment Program. As we recently reported, the initial timetable called for repayment of those advances to begin 120 days after the advance was made. Repayment was to be accomplished through reduction of Medicare reimbursements otherwise payable to the practice currently, until the full amount of the advance was repaid.
Categories:
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
cms,
radiology,
COVID-19
The average cut of 11% in radiology reimbursement that is proposed by the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2021 (MPFS) is the continuation of a trend that spans more than a decade.
Categories:
radiology reimbursement,
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
MPFS,
radiology
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released their annual proposal for changes to the Medicare payment system for the coming year. The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Proposed Rule contains not only proposed adjustments to Medicare reimbursement but also proposed changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) for 2021 and beyond.
Categories:
radiology reimbursement,
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
cms,
radiology
This article was updated on April 14, 2020. Medicare has temporarily opened up the ability for physicians to provide medical care to patients without the need for them to be in the same physical location. Beginning March 2020 and continuing through the end of the current COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), the rules for providing telehealth services have been relaxed. Is there any opportunity for radiologists to use telemedicine in their practice?
Categories:
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
cms,
teleradiology billing,
teleradiology
In the final 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), fee increases relevant to radiology overall outnumbered decreases. However, many of those increases were insignificant changes of less than 1%. There were 128 Professional Component (PC) codes decreased by more than 1%, with only 76 increased, while 430 Global codes increased by more than 1% and 346 Global codes decreased. Here are the details:
Categories:
radiology reimbursement,
radiology billing,
medicare reimbursement,
MPFS,
interventional radiology billing
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the annual changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) in its Final Rule that contains not only adjustments to Medicare reimbursement but also revisions to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) for 2020 and beyond. The MPFS Final Rule does not contain very many significant changes for the coming year, especially for radiology, but one of its provisions will have a far-reaching effect on radiology beginning in 2021.
Categories:
medicare,
medicare reimbursement,
cms,
MPFS,
radiology,
QPP,
quality measures
