Keeping abreast of the various healthcare rules and regulations from federal and state authorities can sometimes be overwhelming for a practice’s management. Here is a summary of some of the most important regulatory issues to be aware of for next year, along with a few payment policy decisions that are not governmental. The links will take you to our recent articles and other sources that probe each topic in more depth.
Categories: cms, MPFS, low dose CT, CPT codes, radiology, QPP, surprise billing
Coming a bit earlier in the month than usual, the release of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule for 2022 contains few changes from the rule proposed earlier this year. The Proposed Rule reported a 2022 Conversion Factor (CF) of $33.5848 per Relative Value Unit (RVU), but the Final Rule adjusts the figure slightly upward to $33.5983. This is a reduction of 3.71% from the 2021 CF of $34.8931. In addition to this cut, practices will see an additional 2% payment reduction when sequestration resumes on January 1, 2022.
Categories: cms, MPFS, Quality Payment Program, radiology, quality measures, Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for 2022. The Proposed Rule is usually modified somewhat before it becomes the final rule for each year, but it gives an idea of the direction Medicare reimbursement is headed. The Medicare Proposed Rule contains payment policy decisions as well as changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP).
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 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the final set of rules that will govern the Medicare payment system for the coming year, thereby affirming the drastic cut in radiology reimbursement for 2021 that was proposed earlier this year. There were few surprises in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule that were not contained in the proposed rule, other than a slight improvement in the fee schedule conversion factor and a change to the QPP Performance Threshold.
Categories: radiology reimbursement, cms, MPFS, radiology, QPP
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
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
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their annual proposal for changes to the Medicare payment system for the coming year, and they also released new information about the existing mandate for the use of Clinical Decision Support (CDS) beginning in 2020. 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 2020 and beyond.
Categories: medicare, medicare reimbursement, MPFS, Quality Payment Program, radiology, QPP
Our review of the proposed 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) showed that 201 Professional Component (PC) codes and 213 Global codes were to be decreased by at least 1% in the Diagnostic Radiology 70000-series of CPT codes. In the final MPFS, only 46 PC codes were reduced by 1% or more, but 280 global codes were reduced by at least 1%. The number of codes expected to increase in payment did not change as dramatically, but in both PC and Global billing fewer codes were increased than we expected. Here are the details:
Categories: radiology reimbursement, interventional radiology, MPFS, radiology, diagnostic radiology
