AAFP concerns addressed in latest changes to Medicare payment system | Courtesy of Shutterstock
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Robert Hadley | Dec 11, 2016

AAFP concerns addressed in latest changes to Medicare payment system

When the new rules for Medicare’s hospital outpatient prospective payment system go into effect in January, they will incorporate three key recommendations from the American Academy Family Physicians (AAFP).

According to a Nov. 28 release from AAFP, the new rules will address concerns the group has had about incentive programs for electronic health records, payment discrepancies between hospitals and doctors’ offices, and a perception that consumer satisfaction surveys were influenced by pain management practices.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services stated that their final rule for 2017 took into account public feedback, which the agency solicited from diverse stakeholders.

"The policies finalized in today's rule will not only improve the value of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries, but are also responsive to health care providers who are crucial to outpatient care," CMS Deputy Administrator Sean Cavanaugh said.

The three key changes are: electronic health record incentives to eliminate objectives and measures related to clinical decision support and computerized order entry; off-campus health care professionals, who create rules to ensure hospital outpatient services are reimbursed at the same rate as physician offices; and the removal of pain management questions that could influence physician prescribing habits from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey.

For more information on the final rule changes, download and review a CMS fact sheet.

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