Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

With turmoil over the conversion factor and the sustainable growth rate taking place every year, most physicians have had enough. The AMA hopes to eliminate that issue completely with a new proposed payment formula that would revamp how Medicare pays physicians.

On July 11, AMA President-elect Ardis Dee Hoven, MD testified before Congress about the association's idea to scrap the current Medicare physician payment formula and replace it with several "care delivery models" that would allow doctors to avoid the "current one size fits all formula," Hoven told Congress.

For more on the AMA's proposal, you can read Hoven's complete testimony at www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/medicare-physician-payment-policy-testimony-11july2012.pdf.