Home Health & Hospice Week

Chronic care management, diabetes prevention addressed.

Your most complex patients may get more face time with their physicians under Medicare’s proposed 2017 Fee Schedule released July 7.

The newest set of proposals and PFS code revisions seeks to reward both primary and transitional care providers who manage chronic care issues and offer cognitive support. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services fielded comments from the public, many of whom requested that Medicare should separately pay for specific CPT® codes that address chronic care management until CMS is able to “address deficiencies in the current E/M code set,” the proposed 2017 Fee Schedule indicated.

“Today’s proposals are intended to give a significant lift to the practice of primary care and to boost the time a physician can spend with their patients listening, advising and coordinating their care — both for physical and mental health,” said Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator, in a release.

CMS hopes to add the Diabetes Prevention Program to Medicare’s lineup starting Jan. 1, 2018.

“Through expansion of the Diabetes Prevention Program, beneficiaries across the nation will be able to access a community-based intervention that prevents diabetes and keeps people healthy,” said Patrick Conway, acting principal deputy administrator and CMS chief medical officer in the release.

“Today’s proposal is an exciting milestone for prevention and population health.”

Background: The ambitious HHS initiative includes a 16-part intervention program designed to help Medicare beneficiaries lose weight through diet and exercise. The Diabetes Prevention Program hopes to align with providers to identify those most at risk and refer them to suppliers of this outreach service.

Resource: See the rule online at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-16097.pdf.