Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
Who Were the Winners and Losers in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule?
Conversion Factor. Physicians can expect a slight increase this year with the conversion factor going up from $35.8043 in 2016 to an estimated $35.8887 for 2017. However, this miniscule rise in the conversion factor is more of a “budget neutrality adjustment,” explains the MPFS report.
Rundown. As CMS integrates MACRA-backed ideologies, quality care that puts the patient first continues to influence policies, payments, and fees. This approach is evident in the 2017 Medicare Fee Schedule and is specifically highlighted in the estimated impact on total allowable charges in the Federal Register report.
Who Came Out Ahead and Who Fell Behind
Family practitioners lead the pack with an estimated combined impact of one percent while independent labs look to see the biggest declines.
Here’s a look at the biggest impacts on specialties and their estimated increases and decreases for the CY 2017:
(Data from TABLE 52: CY 2017 PFS Estimated Impact on Total Allowed Charges by Specialty)
Status quo. A majority of providers will see very little difference with the estimated fee changes for CY 2017, but may feel the impact of the revaluation of codes and services under the Final Rule. 
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Compliance:
OIG to Probe Care Management, DMEPOS Compliance, and More in 2017
The latest Work Plan focuses on several new areas of concern for the OIG. Starting [...] - Reimbursement:
Final MPFS Rule for CY 2017 Supports MACRA's Focus on Primary Care
E/M services, chronic coordination, telehealth at the heart of the finalized policies. CMS issued its [...] - Who Were the Winners and Losers in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule?
Conversion Factor. Physicians can expect a slight increase this year with the conversion factor going [...] - HIPAA:
Disaster Zone: Be Prepared with HIPAA-Ready, EHR-Contingency Plans
OIG looks for five practice policies when reviewing for compliance after a natural disaster or [...] - 4 HIPAA-Friendly Tips to Help You Plan Ahead for an EHR Outage
Luckily, the HHS, in coordination with the NIST and the ONC, offers help to providers [...] - E/M Coding:
3 Tips Lead to Seamless Consultation Coding
Consult coding is still going strong for some private payers—if you know how to report [...] - Health IT:
Is Your Practice HIT Up-To-Date with Advancing Care Information?
You have two short months to prep for the implementation of MACRA’s final rule. As [...] - Industry Notes:
HHS Final Rule for Certified Health IT Defines Limits with Broad CMS Changes Ahead
As CMS moves Meaningful Use (MU) to the side and puts Advancing Care Information (ACI) [...]
