Chicago—Just seven months after CMS scrapped its controversial Draft 2000 Medicare Evaluation & Management Guidelines, CMS and physician groups are back at the table.
In a closed meeting here last month, a group that included CMS, the RBRVS update committee, CMS’s Practicing Physician Advisory Council, Medicare carriers, and private insurers began discussing ways to lighten the documentation load for physicians using CPT E&M codes. Physicians have complained that E&M paperwork is burdensome and unnecessarily complex, detracting from time better spent on patient care. CMS claims that extensive documentation is necessary to ensure payments reflect services provided.
“The regulation apparatus around E&M has become what some would call Draconian,” says ACP-ASIM president William Hall, MD. “Some physicians are saying ‘Why do I need this?’ and deciding not to accept Medicare patients.” There’s no timetable for when codes will be revised and new documentation guidelines issued. But the fact that all parties are finally working together is good news, says Len Lichtenfeld, MD, a longstanding RBRVS committee member. “It’s time people came up with useful suggestions for a process that will work, instead of just fighting about it.” -Bonnie Darves
Chicago—Just seven months after CMS scrapped its controversial Draft 2000 Medicare Evaluation & Management Guidelines, CMS and physician groups are back at the table.