Monday, January 25, 2021
CMS just issued a correction to its guidance on 2021 Medicare rules for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services. The correction is effective January 1, 2021 and revises the preamble commentary in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, previously published on December 1, 2020. It adds language that was inadvertently deleted from the Final Rule, summarizing and responding some public comments. Here is a summary of the new changes:
20 Minutes of Time Includes, but Not Limited to, “Interactive Communication” with Patient
The required 20 minutes of time associated with CPT codes 99457 and 99458 includes care management services, as well as synchronous, real-time interactions with the patient. CMS clarified the “interactive communication” element contributes to the total time, but is not the only activity that can be included when calculating the 20 minutes per month. Put another way, the 20-minutes of intra-service work assoc
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The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule for Calendar Year 2021 (the Final Rule) issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on December 1, 2020, and published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2020, made significant and far-reaching changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). In the Final Rule, which went into effect on January 1, 2021, CMS implemented changes to streamline the reporting process for office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services and increased the relative value units (RVUs) for E/M services.
To account for the increase in RVUs for E/M services and still maintain compliance with the budget neutrality adjustment, CMS decreased the 2021 conversion factor to $32.41, down $3.68 (or 10%) from 2020. CMS also implemented a number of changes reflecting permanent shifts to the healthcare system as a result of COVID-19 by expanding reimbursable telehealth servi