In a statement, CMS administrator Seema Verma said the final rule cements dramatic improvements for clinicians and patients and reflects extensive input from the medical community.
“Addressing clinician burnout is critical to keeping doctors in the workforce to meet the growing needs of America’s seniors,” Ms. Verma said in the statement. “[The] rule offers immediate relief from onerous requirements that contribute to burnout in the medical profession and detract from patient care. It also delays even more significant changes to give clinicians the time they need for implementation and provides time for us to continue to work with the medical community on this effort.”
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With physicians facing excessive documentation requirements in their practices, it is a relief to see that the administration not only understands the problem of regulatory burden but is taking concrete steps to address it, said Barbara L. McAneny, MD, president of the American Medical Association.
“Patients are likely to see the effect as their physicians will have more time to spend with them and be able to more quickly locate relevant information in medical records,” Dr. McAneny said in a statement. “Implementation of these policies will streamline documentation requirements, reducing paperwork burdens that interfere with a meaningful patient-physician relationship.”
CMS finalized a number of proposals to pay doctors separately for communication technology services. This includes HCPCS code G2012 for brief communication technology-based services, such as virtual check-ins and HCPCS code G2010 for remote evaluation of a recorded video and/or images submitted by an established patient, also known as store and forward.
Additionally, CMS will pay separately for new codes that describe chronic care remote physiologic monitoring (CPT codes 99453, 99454, and 99457) and interprofessional Internet consultation (CPT codes 99451, 99452, 99446, 99447, 99448, and 99449). Also new to the list of reimbursable telehealth services are HCPCS codes G0513 and G0514 for prolonged preventive services.
Telehealth physicians who treat opioid use disorder received more flexibility under the CMS 2019 fee schedule through the agency’s removal of originating site geographic requirements. CMS will now allow a patient’s home to be an originating site for telehealth services for substance use disorder treatment or co-occurring mental health disorder. The agency is also accepting comments on a new Medicare benefit category for opioid use disorder treatment furnished by opioid treatment programs under Part B beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2020.
CMS also approved updates to its Medicare Shared Savings Program, including finalizing time-sensitive program policy changes for currently participating Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). These changes include:
- A voluntary 6-month extension for existing ACOs whose participation agreements expire on Dec. 31, 2018, and the methodology for determining financial and quality performance for the 6-month performance year from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2019.
- Revising the definition of primary care services used in beneficiary assignment.
- Providing relief for ACOs and their clinicians impacted by extreme and uncontrollable circumstances in 2018 and subsequent years.