CMS issues Physician Fee Schedule, QPP final rule for 2020

On Nov. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Quality Payment Program (QPP) Final Rule. The rule includes changes to physician payment policies and rates, as well as to quality provisions for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule effective on or after Jan. 1, 2020.

Payment provisions affected include:

Rate-setting and conversion factor
Medicare telehealth services
Evaluation and management services
Physician supervision requirements for physician assistants
Review and verification of medical record documentation
Care management services
Medicare coverage for opioid use disorder treatment services furnished by opioid treatment programs
Bundled payments under the PFS for opioid use disorders
Therapy services

Other provisions affected include:

Quality Payment Program
Ambulance services
Ground ambulance data collection system
Open Payments Program
Medicare Shared Savings Program

Read the CMS fact sheet on the final rule here.

The AMA has several resources to help physicians and staff understand the changes made in the final rule:

This “Final Rule Summary” covers key policies CMA finalized in the rule.
For information on changes to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) of the QPP, read “5 things doctors need to know about the 2020 Medicare Fee Schedule.”
“E/M prep: Get your coding, EHR systems ready for 2021” focuses on practice management changes necessitated by the rule.
“E/M prep: Avoid these pitfalls in move to new office-visit codes” tells how to avoid some clearly identified pitfalls in preparing for changes that take effect Jan. 1, 2021.

Also, CMS released the following links :