Want More Time with Patients—and to Be Compensated for It? CMS Might Have That

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized a rule intended to ease cumbersome—and time-consuming—billing and coding requirements and increase reimbursements for services clinicians are already providing (such as those related to certain chronic illnesses). At the heart of the new system is an overhaul of the Evaluation and Management structure, which was designed and implemented in the mid-1990s, before the explosion of urgent care, widespread use of electronic health records, and secure data management. The Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program Final Rule is projected to save clinicians 2.3 million hours annually, and will take effect on January 1, 2021.