Few are Submitting for Medicare Chronic Care Management Payments; Gee, I Wonder Why?

Who’d a thunk it? Doctors leaving money on the table? Not billing for services we apparently are already providing? Surely not us greedy doctors. But yes: The CMS says doctors tending to tens of millions of chronically ill Medicare patients aren’t taking advantage of federal dollars aimed at improving care and reducing hospital readmissions and overall costs. This year, Medicare began paying an average of $42 per patient per month for non-face-to-face chronic-care management services, such as consulting with other doctors caring for the same patient who might be dealing with dementia, heart disease or arthritis. The CMS estimates 70% of Medicare beneficiaries—roughly 35 million—would be eligible, but CMS has only received reimbursement requests for 100,000 beneficiaries thus far, Kathy Bryant, a senior technical adviser in the Center for Medicare, said last week at an Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education meeting. She added that even that number may be too high as some could be duplicate claims. Now why wouldn’t I want to collect an extra $500 or so a year per Medicare patient? I mean, I’m already coordinating their care, calling specialists, keeping track of their tests, refilling meds and so forth without seeing a penny. Why not bill for it? What would I have to do? (Following info from this CMS Fact Sheet) First, I have to get the patient’s consent. No biggie. I’m sure most of my patients would be okay with it. Turns out that ther...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs