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Excerpt
According to MEM Subcommittee Chair Laura B. Powers, MD, the changes in the resource-base relative value scale (RBRVS) for medical services, established by CMS in 1989, have amplified discrepancies in payment for cognitive services as compared with technical procedures. The current reimbursement does not take into account the face-to-face patient interaction that is necessary in neurology, she said.
MEM member Baldwin Smith, MD, said that the Academy, along with 16 other cognitive specialty groups, recently completed a survey of evaluation and management codes and offered recommendations for improving reimbursement in a report presented to the CMS.
The survey demonstrated that patients were finding it more difficult to find physicians who accept Medicare and Medicaid coverage, due to low reimbursement and the administrative burden of managed care, said Bruce Sigsbee, MD, who along with Dr. Smith helped outline the AAN talking points at the CMS meeting. The problem will worsen if not corrected, Dr. Sigsbee said. Dr. Smith added that the agency reacted positively to the suggestions for improving reimbursement.
The CMS is currently completing its routine five-year review of physician reimbursement for Medicare and will publish a proposed rule in the late spring with the final rule next fall. The modified values take effect in 2007, Dr. Sigsbee said.
