News & Media
MSMS Applauds HHS for Revisions to Medicare E/M Policies
Physicians are challenged with excessive regulatory requirements in their practices. It is a high priority of the Michigan State Medical Society to help reduce or develop efficiencies on these requirements. We are pleased to see the Administration is beginning to address that regulatory paperwork burdens on physicians, who will now be able to spend more time with their patients building a meaningful patient-physician relationship.
Specifically, the MSMS is grateful that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:
- Changed the required documentation of the patient’s history to focus only on the interval history since the previous visit.
- Eliminated the requirement for physicians to re-document information that has already been documented in the patient’s record by practice staff or by the patient; and
- Removed the need to justify providing a home visit instead of an office visit.
- Declined to move forward on a proposal to reduce payment for office visits when performed on the same day as another service.
MSMS is also grateful that the Administration is not moving forward in 2019 with the payment collapse of E/M codes. In September, MSMS, along with 169 other organizations, signed onto a joint letter in regards to the Administration’s proposals. In a separate letter, MSMS further stressed its opposition to the proposed E/M changes and support for the recommendations in the health care stakeholder's joint letter including the suggestion to allow the AMA's workgroup to further analyze the issue and develop actionable recommendations for submission to CMS for consideration. Additionally, MSMS noted its opposition to proposals to reduce payments for multiple services delivered in the same day and mandatory use of 2015 Edition of Certified Electronic Health Record Technology under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).