Primary Care Coding Alert

Good news: New wellness visit codes get covered.Get ready for another year of nail-biting to find out whether your Medicare payments will be slashed. "The calendar year 2011 Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor is $25.5217," notes the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, printed in the Federal Register that will be published on Nov. 29. This amounts to a dismal 30 percent cut compared to the current rate of $36.8729."While Congress has provided temporary relief from these reductions every year since 2003, a long-term solution is critical," the Fee Schedule notes. "We are committed to permanently reforming the Medicare payment formula."As most practices know, last June, Congress voted to not only stave off a 21 percent cut to your Medicare pay, but to increase the conversion factor by 2.2 percent. However, that vote only kept the cuts at bay through November 30 -- and that date is right around the [...]