Medicare's decision to eliminate consultation codes has resulted in a loss of revenue for many physicians and forced some to cut back on appointments with Medicare beneficiaries, according to a survey commissioned by the American Medical Association and several other medical specialty societies.
In January, officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services discontinued the use of inpatient and outpatient consultation codes when billing Medicare, except for telehealth codes. Physicians instead were asked to use new or established office visit codes, initial hospital care codes, or initial nursing facility care codes. At the time of the policy change, CMS officials said they could no longer justify paying physicians more for a consultation when they had reduced so much of the documentation required to bill for a consultation. The agency also said that eliminating consultation codes would reduce the confusion around the differing definitions of consultations, transfers, and referrals.
In an online survey of about 5,500 physicians, about 72% said that not being able to bill for consultations had decreased their total revenues by more than 5%, with about 30% reporting their revenues had fallen more than 15%.
The loss of revenue has in turn impacted physicians' practices. For example, 20% of respondents said they have already reduced the number of new Medicare patients seen in their practices. Additionally, 39% said they will hold off on purchasing new equipment or health information technology.
The policy change may also undermine efforts to improve care coordination. About 6% of responding physicians said they have stopped providing primary care physicians with written reports following consults with Medicare patients, and another 19% said they plan to do so.
Dr. J. James Rohack
"Patient health is best managed when physicians can work together across specialties to coordinate care," Dr. J. James Rohack, AMA immediate past president, said in a statement. "Twenty percent of patients over age 65 live with five or more chronic illnesses, and managing their care frequently requires primary care physicians to consult with a physician who specializes in the medical or surgical care of their conditions. CMS’s new policy eliminating Medicare consultation codes fails to adequately recognize the additional time and effort involved in these consultations and limits physicians' ability to work together as a comprehensive health care team for their patients.
In a letter to CMS, officials from more than 30 medical specialty societies, including the American Academy of Dermatology, urged the agency to revise the policy when they issue a final regulation on the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule this fall.
The organizations suggested that CMS consider paying consulting physicians for providing the referring physician with a comprehensive report. They also said CMS could ease some of the financial pressure on physicians by revising its guidelines for prolonged visits to allow for reimbursement for services provided outside of the face-to-face visit, such as reviewing charts and communicating with families and other health care providers.