Medicare Payments to Doctors Face Cuts

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — The Bush administration on Tuesday proposed a cut of 5.1 percent across the board in Medicare payments for services provided by doctors to elderly and disabled patients in 2007.

NY TIMES

In June 2006 however, CMS made the following statement

"SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES IN PAYMENTS FOR TIME SPENT WITH PATIENTS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a notice proposing changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) that will improve the accuracy of payments to physicians for the services they furnish to Medicare beneficiaries. The proposed notice includes substantial increases for “evaluation and management” services, that is, time and effort that physicians spend with patients in evaluating their condition, and advising and assisting them in managing their health. The changes reflect the recommendations of the Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) of the American Medical Association."

Either way, practices that do not improve operations and provide adequate documentation are sure to fare worse.SV