MEDICARE UPDATE

Documentation Guidelines Likely to Change

In testimony presented last month at a Congressional field hearing on Medicare fraud and abuse, Nancy Dickey, MD, president-elect of the AMA, gave the strongest indication to date that the revised E/M documentation guidelines developed by the AMA and HCFA will change.

"We ... hope to have available for discussion a new framework for E/M documentation as well as alternate formats that may ease considerably their use in a variety of clinical situations," Dickey said. She suggested that the new framework might be available in time for an AMA-sponsored April 27 meeting for representatives of national medical specialty societies, state medical associations, the CPT Editorial Panel and HCFA that has been in the works for a few months.

Dickey also indicated that the grace period currently scheduled to end on June 30 would likely be extended to allow time for pilot testing and education. "We have already begun serious discussions with HCFA about an extension of ... at least an additional six months and are optimistic that we will have a favorable decision."

We will update you on further developments in the June issue of Family Practice Management.

Copyright © 1998 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP.