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Video | CMS Increases Reimbursement for Complex Care Delivery Integrate G2211 into Your Practice
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Hi, everyone. We're going to get started in just a few minutes. We're just going to allow some time for some people to join. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today for this webinar titled CMS Increases Reimbursement for Complex Care Delivery, How to Integrate G2211 into Your Practice. My name is Mara Roth. I'm an Associate Professor at the University of Washington in the Department of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition, and Director of the Endocrine Tumor Program at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. I'm also a member of the Endocrine Society Clinical Affairs Core Committee, which we often call CAC. One of CAC's primary responsibilities is advocating for the Endocrine Society's policy priorities that are important to our clinician members. One of the most important issues for our clinicians is adequate physician payment, and the society has had some important victories over the last few years to improve physician reimbursement for endocrinologists. The Endocrine Society was recently successful in advocating for the creation of this new complex add-on code that can be used by endocrinologists that we're gonna talk about today. This new code may result in an increased reimbursement for complex care delivery at your practice. In 2024, endocrinology is estimated to see a 3% increase in overall Medicare payments under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule, and the creation of this new code, G2211, is directly contributing to this increase. So in today's webinar, our goals are to learn about the new G2211 add-on code, which will increase reimbursement for complex care, to find out when and if you're eligible to build this code at your practice, and to learn more about what the Endocrine Society is doing to advocate for adequate physician reimbursement. It is now my pleasure to introduce our presenter for today's webinar. Can you go on to the next slide, please? Perfect. Erica Miller is a partner at CRD Associates, a lobbying firm that works with nonprofit and trade organizations, universities, and municipalities on working successfully with the government, particularly on health policy issues. Erica works closely with the Endocrine Society Government and Public Affairs team on legislative and regulatory issues, and on the AMA, CPT, and RUC committees. Erica brings a wealth of knowledge related to physician payment and legislative and regulatory strategy. She has previous experience working for a member of Congress on Capitol Hill, working in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on their office on women's health, and working in lobbying firms. Erica is going to provide an overview of the G2211 Complex Care Code, including background information on the creation and implementation of this code. We will also have a question and answer session at the end of the session. And so if you have questions, please go ahead and put them into the chat, into the Q&A section, and we'll go ahead and bring those up at the end. If we don't get to all of the questions at the end of our session today, we will be sending these out so that they will be available to everyone. And with that, I'd like to go ahead and introduce Erica Miller and invite her to go ahead and present with us. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks so much, Mara. Great to be here this afternoon with all of you. Next slide, please. So Mara started to tell you what we're going to cover, but just to give you some more information, a little roadmap for our session today, we'll start by talking about the descriptor for this new add-on code, background of how it was created and why it was created, what sort of care that it covers, how you can make sure that you're documenting it appropriately, how much you will get paid when you are able to bill it, and then talk about how you're able to use this code appropriately and in line with CMS's expectations. So next slide, please. So just on this slide is the code descriptor for G2211. And I will read it to you. I'm not usually big into reading everything on a slide, but I think this is important. So the code is supposed to cover, visit complexity inherent to evaluation and management associated with medical care services that serve as the continuing focal point for all needed healthcare services and or with medical care services that are part of ongoing care related to a patient's single serious condition or a complex condition. Add-on code lists separately in addition to office, outpatient evaluation management visit new or established. And you'll note that I have some phrases in this descriptor highlighted. And you'll probably hear me say these things multiple times during our session together. But this code descriptor is meant to apply when you serve as the medical home or the focal point for a patient, all of a patient's care. So that's really getting at primary care or if you are serving as kind of the point person for a patient's single serious condition or a complex condition. So when we think about endocrinology and you think about the range of diseases that you all treat your patients for thyroid disease, diabetes, these are all will qualify as a single serious condition or a complex condition. And I think it's important to also note on this slide before we move on, that this add-on code can be built with all of the outpatient evaluation management visits. So knowing that is kind of your bread and butter in terms of billing, it doesn't matter if the patient is new or established. And we'll talk more about how this applies to new and established patients. But when you think about what this code is aiming to get at, it really kind of falls right in the sweet spot for the care that endocrinologists provide. Next slide, please. So just some background. Some of you might remember back in calendar year 2021, CMS was preparing to launch the revised outpatient E&M services. So leading up to that point, the AMA CPT panel had revised those codes and you probably are all familiar now with the new documentation requirements that allow you to bill by time or medical decision-making. And then they were valued by the AMA RUC and the Endocrine Society actually participated in that survey. And they were going to affect in 2021. And when CMS looked at the kind of new revised code families and their values, the agency felt that there were additional work and resources that were part of outpatient E&M care that weren't being captured by the revised codes. So this G code was really the, came from CMS because they felt that there was a level of care that wasn't being in work, that wasn't being captured. So at that time, these E&M codes would have applied to almost all outpatient E&M billings. And so this is important because if you think about the percentage of the chunk of the fee schedule that outpatient E&M makes up, it's quite significant over 20%. I think it's somewhere in the 20 to 30% range. And so then every outpatient E&M code would have been able to have this add-on added. And so that set off a lot of alarm bells for a number of specialties, not endocrinology, but specialties that don't spend a lot of time in the outpatient E&M sandbox. You might remember going into 2021, we were still at the height of COVID. And so having this code appended to almost all outpatient E&M billings would have created a significant budget neutrality, budget neutrality redistribution. And so in order not to kind of affect certain physicians' payment with that kind of negative pressure, at the time Congress stepped in and delayed that the code, or said that the code needed to be delayed by three years. And so those three years are now up. And then in that time, CMS was looking at how they could provide a little bit more clarity on how the code could be used appropriately and perhaps not have such high utilization. And we'll talk more about that as we go through the presentation. But in the calendar year Medicare for 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, CMS proposed that the code be implemented for January 1st. And so I'm sure many of you have already started billing it because that proposal was finalized with some new caveats around how the code be used. Next slide, please. So what does G2211 cover now? So as I've said before, this code is available as an add-on for all new and established patients when you're billing outpatient E&M. So 99202 through 99205 and 99211 through 99215 can all have this add-on code billed in conjunction with them as long as it is appropriate. And so what CMS kind of thought about on further reflection is that what is going to be determinative in billing this code is the relationship between the provider and the patient. What the agency sees in high quality cognitive care is that this patient has a relationship with their provider and that provider understands the patient from having that ongoing relationship with them. And there's value in that and the care that's delivered and it should be recognized through this add-on code. So really what they see is that longitudinal physician-patient relationship as being worth value in the Medicare system. And so they think this code is supposed to recognize that care. And so again, I told you, I was probably going to say this multiple times, but it can be billed by a practitioner, either a physician or an APP who provides all the care required by the patient or the ongoing medical care for a single serious or complex condition. So again, think primary care, again, right in the sweet spot for endocrinology, other cognitive specialties, think about hematology perhaps would also, this would apply oncology, but definitely in the wheelhouse for endocrinology, which is why I'm so glad we're here talking about how to use this code today. Next slide, please. So besides thinking about the relationship between the provider and the patient and making that kind of a key part of when you use this add-on code, the agency also thought about when it's not appropriate to use this code. So whenever you're using modifier 25, the same time you're billing an outpatient E&M service, and just as a refresher, you use modifier 25 when you're also providing a significant separately identifiable service on the same day as your E&M. So again, think about perhaps when you are seeing a patient with diabetes and you are billing 95215 for the interpretation and report of their CGM data, that would be billed in conjunction with an outpatient E&M with modifier 25. So in that instance, you could not bill G2211 because you're using modifier 25. So basically the agency is using this kind of to limit utilization when you're billing two separately identifiable services, one being the E&M service, you cannot bill the G2211. Next slide, please. I know that there are also some questions about the documentation requirements around the code and how to make sure that you're demonstrating that you are meeting the requirements for its use. Well, I think the first most important thing is you have to appropriately document the outpatient E&M service and the medical record. Again, we're not gonna talk about that in detail, but whether you're documenting based on medical decision-making or you're documenting on time, make sure that you're billing that code with the appropriate documentation. And then the agency will look at the information included in the medical record or in the claims history that relates to the practitioner patient relationship. So they might be looking at ongoing diagnosis codes, but they want to see that you have been treating this patient for an ongoing manner. Again, this gets to what the agency sees as kind of the most important part and what's determinative in this code, which is that longitudinal relationship between the patient and the provider. And you might be saying, well, Erica, you're saying that this is available for new patients, but you keep talking about the importance of a longitudinal relationship and how does that work with a new patient? And so I think the other thing, particularly for new patients, you have to have a care plan that you are gonna demonstrate that you're gonna be providing care either for all of the patient's health issues or for that single serious or complex condition. And that the plan is for you to be developing an ongoing longitudinal relationship with the patient, even if you don't have one and they're coming in as a new patient. So documenting that you're going to have a care plan and that the plan is for the patient to return is a key part of this when you're talking about new patients. I will note also, if you have kind of an ongoing relationship with the patient, but this visit is not part of their ongoing medical issue, you should note that the patient is returning to the practice, because again, this is hinging on the relationships that you have with the patient. So if it's not related to their, for example, diabetes on this case, but some other medical issue and you have relationship, that relationship is what's determinative and you can bill G2211. And then the other piece is just other service codes that can be billed, that might be billed again. And if modifier 25 perhaps is being billed and then you couldn't bill this code. So next slide, please. I do want to talk briefly about the payment. So you can see just on this brief chart that the add-on code is worth 0.33 work RV use. And then it's also worth 0.49 total RV use. So that means it's approximately $16 and 4 cents. So depending on where you are in the country and what geographic area you're in, adjustments there might be that's about the payment that you would get for this service. So for every service that you bill that meets these requirements for a patient that you have an ongoing relationship with, or I think you're going to form an ongoing relationship with that you are treating their single serious or complex condition, you can then tack on an approximately extra $16 for their care. So I think all of you know that $16, if you can bill it for almost all of the patients you see in a day or half the patients that you see in a day will add up and this could be a significant increase in revenue for you, which as Mara said in her introduction, endocrinology is estimated to see a 3% increase in their reimbursement next year. And that I think really is coming out of this code, particularly as we continue to see downward pressure on the conversion factor for Medicare overall. So this is, I think one way that endocrinology could really mitigate those ongoing Medicare payment cuts. Next slide, please. Just some other things that we wanna make sure that you're aware of today. One, the longitudinal relationship applies to the practitioner and the practitioner group. So if a patient is a patient of the practice and sees you regularly, but is seeing one of your colleagues because you're not available, your colleague would be able to bill the G2211 because the relationship was with the practice overall on the thought that you all will communicate with each other and share notes. And so that's good to know that it's practice-based not practitioner-based. The other thing that's really important here is that more than one practitioner can regularly bill G2211 for the same patient. So you, if you are the patient's endocrinologist and you're seeing them regularly for their thyroid condition, but they also have a primary care provider who they see regularly for their other ongoing medical care, you both could bill G2211 without any issue. There are other codes on the Medicare physician fee schedule that only one provider can bill for a certain time period. And so that does not apply here. And so that's not a concern. And I think that's really important to highlight as long as you are meeting the requirements to bill the add-on code, you can bill it. There are other physicians can bill it as well. I think the agency really wants providers to be providing this sort of complex or care for complex conditions or being a patient's kind of primary care medical home to really take advantage of this code. The other thing to highlight is that this code is available to be billed by telehealth or audio only. I know that many endocrinologists have really taken advantage of the telehealth flexibilities that have been provided since the start of the pandemic. And so this code is available to be billed with those virtual services, whether they be simultaneous audio video services or just phone calls only. But just as a reminder that unless Congress acts, Medicare is only covering those services through the end of 2024. So Congress would have to step in at that point and extend those flexibilities for G2211 to be available after the end of this year. And I know that the Endocrine Society is advocating on the telehealth front and is going to be monitoring that closely throughout the year. We will keep you all updated on what might be happening on that front. But for the time being, please use this with all of your telehealth and phone visits as long as it's appropriate. And again, I promise that I would say this multiple times, but again, this should only be reported if you are taking responsibility for a patient's ongoing medical care or for the care for a single or multiple serious complex conditions. This is not for one-off care. So next slide, please. I wanna talk about a couple of patient examples so we can really get into when it's appropriate to use these codes and when it isn't appropriate. So again, this first example, we have a 67-year-old woman who's presenting with thyroid cancer. She's being seen as a new patient by an endocrinologist. That endocrinologist examines her and develops a care plan that she documents in the medical record to guide her cancer treatment. If you could just hit forward, please. So yes, you should bill G2211 with that new patient E&M code. Again, you're developing that care plan and you're gonna be the kind of ongoing contact for her thyroid cancer going forward. So this applies. You could jump ahead to the next slide now. So here you have a 75-year-old man with diabetes who returns for his regular diabetes care. You are billing the established patient code 99214 along with a 99251 with the modifier. Because you are billing the outpatient E&M code with the 99251 with the modifier 25, just hit forward, please. This is when you cannot bill G2211 with this established patient visit, because again, you're using modifier 25. You have the outpatient E&M code and a separately identifiable service. So you're gonna get paid for those two services and you could not tack on the modifier. And we have one more example. You have a 66-year-old man who presents with sinusitis. No one in your practice has seen this patient previously. This is a code that, or this is a situation where you can't bill an outpatient E&M code with the add-on code because it can't be used for episodic care. If you are only seeing a patient for a kind of one-off and you're not going to be forming or don't have a preexisting relationship with the patient, then ultimately this code is not available to you. And so I think that is my last slide. And I think Mara will come back and we'll do some Q&A. Thank you so much, Erica. That was- Oh, sorry, I forgot I had one more slide. Just put on this slide some additional resources. CMS has put out a Medicare Learning Network Matters article on this and also a transmittal on G2211. And so those are available and linked in the slide. And then also a CMS FAQ and some coding guidance from the Endocrine Society are forthcoming and they will all be available to you too. Sorry, Mara, I forgot I had that one more. No, that's okay. I appreciate it. It's so helpful. And we have, you know, this has been such a great presentation. This is such a confusing new code that's really challenging to figure out how to use in our application. One question that's come up a couple of times in the chat is that we know that this code's available to treat Medicare beneficiaries, but it's unclear if it's available for those with private insurance. And this is particularly challenging because we don't always check to know what a patient's insurance is. We're obviously for the most part trying to treat patients the same, but the concern is when we're billing, can we use this code for patients with other forms of insurance? That is an excellent question. And I think it's one that we're still getting more clarity around as this code just became available January 1. It is my understanding that institutions are directing all of their practitioners to bill this with every patient when it would be appropriate. We aren't going to know, you know, which payers are going to pay it yet. I think we're hopeful that we will see payers outside of Medicare paying for this code, but right now it's our understanding that institutions are directing their practitioners to bill it with every outpatient E&M visit when that longitudinal relationship or longitudinal exists or is going to be formed. So hopefully there'll be some more clarity soon, but that's what we know right now. Thank you. Another question that's come up a couple of times here is sort of how do we define a serious or a chronic condition? You know, does obesity fall into the category for a serious condition? How do we define this and how do we know when it's appropriate? Yeah, that's a great question. And CMS has declined to define those terms, single serious or complex condition. So they have not touched that to this point. And I don't think that they will, but I think from where we're sitting, where a single serious or a complex condition is going to be one where you are gonna be kind of the focal point for delivering care to the patient. And I think another thing to think about is whether it's ongoing care or episodic care. The agency is clear that this doesn't apply when care is episodic in nature. So anything that you're gonna be seeing a patient return to your office, whether it be once a month, once a quarter, or once a year, if you have that ongoing relationship with them, then for that condition, again, they're looking at what codes are being listed as the diagnosis codes, then you should be meeting those definitions. And again, I think one of the reasons we wanna have this webinar today is that the add-on code really falls in the sweet spot of endocrinology and the types of conditions that you treat patients for. So I think obesity, diabetes, thyroid conditions, thyroid cancer, transgender care, all of these are complex conditions. I think one of the areas for confusion with that complex issue is the issue regarding the complexity in terms of our medical decision-making for the initial E&M code versus complexity for this G2211 code. So are those not consistent? Can we have those be, can we say that that's a chronic complex condition for the G2211 code, but not have it be high-complexity medical decision-making? Absolutely, because when you think about kind of what gets you up the kind of chain in terms of high-complexity medical decision-making for the E&M codes, you're looking at different tests that are billed and whether you're consulting with other providers and how many comorbidities they might present with. This is really, you know, thinking about the condition itself, not the kind of tests ordered and consultations. And it's, you know, focusing on whether you are or are going to become that focal point for the patient's care for this condition. So definitely think of those things as separate. I think that's a great point that you highlighted there. One of the questions that came up is about what is, is there a time restriction here? So if we're seeing patients multiple times close together, is there a time restriction for how often you can use this? There are absolutely no time restrictions. Again, the agency, and I hate sounding like a broken record, but I think it's so important because I know this code despite having more clarity now than when it was first proposed is so vague. If you see the patient regularly for the same condition or a different condition, you should build that code because again, this add-on code is hinging upon your relationship with the patient. So if you have that ongoing relationship with the patient and you see them regularly and meet the requirements, filling a newer established patient code, not using modifier 25, then you are definitely within all of the criteria to continue to build the service. And then does that work as well with multiple providers? So I think you've touched on this before in the presentation, but when we talk about a longitudinal relationship between a provider and a patient, what if that patient's also, for example, seeing my nurse practitioner intermittently? So they may see me and then my nurse practitioner and then come back. Can both of us be billing the G2211 code, even though, for example, their next visit may not be with me? Absolutely. The relationship really goes back to your practice level. So you can see the patient, your nurse practitioner can see the patient, one of the other endocrinologists can see the patient as well. That relationship has been established with the practice. And so that condition of the code has been met. How does this apply as well for pediatric patients? So does this apply to pediatric patients on Medicaid as compared to Medicare? Do we have that information yet? So again, I will just say, I know on the pediatric front that pediatric practices are being instructed to bill this code for Medicaid patients, for private payer patients as well. But back to the first question about other payers, we don't have confirmed clarity, but I do know that pediatric practices or practices that happen to see children are instructing providers to bill it for pediatric patients. Great. One of the questions that came up was, is this code designed to really think about and recognize the contact and care that we provide between visits? Is that one part of why this code was developed? So I think that's a great question. I don't know that I can get 100% in the mind of CMS. That would be scary. I will say that I know that there are a number of codes that are available for, like if your patient were to send you a text message of a picture of like a skin rash or something that you can bill for that. And there are some codes to bill for care outside of visits like chronic care management and principal care management. And those are separate codes. So if we think that kind of the care outside of the visit gets to what forms that relationship with the patient, I think we could say yes. But ultimately, this can only be billed when you're providing an outpatient E&M. So it can't be billed if, you know, you're providing some sort of care or guidance to the patient separate from that service. But I do think that the agency is aware about the interactions that happen between practitioners and patients outside of visits, is trying to come up with other codes to deal with that, but also recognizes kind of that interaction as part of what forms that trusting practitioner or patient relationship. That might be a cop out answer, but... One other question that's come up several times is about the 25 modifier, sort of when that's getting used, what other modifiers might also be interfering with the use of the G2211 add-on code and sort of how to navigate that for patients who are, for example, having an in-office ultrasound or an in-office bone density completed. So the only modifier that the agency specifically prohibited billing G2211 in conjunction with was modifier 25. So if you are delivering other services and they don't require modifier 25, then you can build G2211. But again, whenever you have to, you're having a separately identifiable service with an outpatient E&M and using that modifier 25, this code can't be built. If somebody has specific modifiers that they have in mind, because none are coming to my mind, please send them in. And when we prepare the specific Q&A, we can address them there. But the modifier 25 is the only modifier that CMS specifically prohibited billing the outpatient E&M with that modifier and the add-on code. Do we need to provide some sort of formal attestation with this code? So some sort of statement explaining that we are providing longitudinal care for a specific diagnosis, and do we need to be linking it to a specific diagnosis or can we include any diagnoses that are covered at that visit? So you don't have to have any specific attestation. As I mentioned, the agency is going to look at claims, they might see, Mara, that just use you as an example, that you periodically see a woman or a man with thyroid cancer, they will see that diagnosis in conjunction to your visits and they will see that you have that ongoing relationship. I think the important thing to put in the medical record is not attesting to the relationship, but is making sure that you're making it clear or making it clear that there's a plan of care for that condition, whether it be cancer, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, whatever, just make sure that you are outlining that you're providing that care plan that's being shared with the patient. And I have a feeling you're probably doing that already. Can I ask you to dovetail a little bit to the side about sort of what's going on with Medicare reimbursement in general. At the beginning of this year, Medicare instituted a 3.37% cut to Medicare payments. And this has been sort of an across the board cut that's impacted all providers. Are you able to talk about this cut and sort of what the Endocrine Society has been doing to advocate to reverse this or impact this for us? Yeah, it's a great question. And I am going to apologize in advance that I don't really have great news on this front. So as you quickly point or correctly point out there, this cut did go into effect on January 1st. It was the result of the fact that there were budget neutrality adjustments made in the physician fee schedule, but there has not been a positive update to the conversion factor. So when you have downward pressure on the conversion factor from budget neutrality with no positive updates that there hasn't been a positive update to the fee schedule that hasn't kind of been a fix came last in 2019 that we see kind of this downward pressure on the conversion factor. So we were hopeful that Congress would address this before the end of the year. They didn't. We were hopeful that they would address it when they needed to keep the government funded with the first deadline of January 19th. They did not do that either. Our next two funding deadlines are March 1st and March 8th and I'm not gonna bore you with the details, but that's when Congress must pass legislation to keep the government open. We're hopeful that they will provide some sort of fix to the conversion factor. The Endocrine Society has gone on record with Congress about both with letters, calls to action for members to ask members to pass a pay fix. We will keep up the pressure on that front and really continue to advocate for Congress to get out of the cycle of cuts. It's terrible for physicians. The Medicare physician fee schedule is the only fee schedule that doesn't include an inflationary update. And so once we kind of get past, hopefully dealing with this immediate cut, we'll be asking Congress to reform the fee schedule so there are positive updates to the conversion factor and they make some other common sense changes so there isn't so much negative pressure, financial pressure on practices and individual physicians. Thank you. One question that continues to come up is I think a little bit of shock of the issue of how frequently we might be using this code in our practices. And it really raises the question of, it seems like that almost that many of our Medicare patients will potentially be getting this code at each and every visit. Is that okay that we're using it that frequently? And also what is this gonna look like for the patient? How is this gonna impact the bill that they might receive? Yes, so these are great questions. So yes, you absolutely can bill this every time that you see a patient that you have an ongoing relationship with. And again, if we go back to why CMS created this code, when they were getting ready to implement the revised outpatient E&M codes, they still didn't feel like all of the work treating patients for either all of their health conditions or single or multiple serious or complex conditions was being captured by those outpatient E&M codes. And I remember, I think we did a webinar at that time where we talked about the significant increases and how meaningful they were gonna be for endocrinology. But again, at the time the agency did not feel that they went far enough. So that was kind of the impetus for this code. So you should absolutely bill it as much as possible whenever it applies and whenever the conditions are met. But yes, this is subject to a co-pay for your patient. So Medicare, if you have a 20% co-pay, this will be a little over $3 more in the patient's co-pay. It's $3 and 20 cents or 22 cents because it's $16 and 4 cents. So yes, patients will see kind of a slight increase in what is due out of pocket, but you should bill it as much as possible. One of the clarifications that have been asked for a couple of times is this issue around insurance, which we touched on before in terms of the fact that we know Medicare will accept this, but not any other form of insurance. As other insurance companies are potentially deciding whether or not what they're gonna do with this code, if it, for example, gets rejected once, should we continue to try and bill this code to see if they change their approach or change their policy? Does that make sense? It does make sense. And I'm gonna say, I think you all should speak to the coding and billing departments at your institutions. It could differ from institution to institution, just like it could differ from payer to payer. So I recommend checking with them. And I will also say, as the Undercurrent Society learns more about what payers are accepting the code, we will update our coding guidance for all of you because I know this is a popular question and it's at the top of everyone's minds. And I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer right now, but again, I think the coders and billers at your institutions are really smart and are learning about this code inside and out. And as your institutions develop policies about how it should be used as kind of the payer picture evolves, they're gonna be the best ones to know. But again, the Undercurrent Society will continue to provide guidance to the extent that we learn information. I think you mentioned this before and it's on the slide, but just to confirm, what was the RVU add-on for this code? So now you're gonna test my memory. Thank you, Allie. So it's 0.49 total RVUs. So of that 0.33 are work RVUs. So it's just under half an RVU. So again, that translates to real money. And so that's why we are encouraging you and your institutions are encouraging you to bill this to all the patients to which it applies. And where can we go if we have more questions about this? Does the Undercurrent Society have any resources or any links? I think you mentioned those at the end where we can get more information. Yes, and so I had put up those two links from CMS, but also it looks like that QR code is going to take you to the Undercurrent Society's practice resources where I think you will find coding guidance, links to those CMS websites that I link to and other information about this code as it becomes available. Thank you so much. Thank you everyone for attending the webinar today. We hope you've learned about this new code, how it can help you in your practice. I do know that it also raises questions and there's certainly questions that still need to get answered. And so we will have this recording available. We will make sure that we've gone through all the Q&A questions to make sure that there's responses. And you will receive an email with this guidance document from the Undercurrent Society as well that they have put together. You'll also receive a recording of this webinar. You can find additional information by going to the physician payment page on the Undercurrent Society website or to the links that Erica has included here. And the Undercurrent Society is going to continue to advocate for appropriate Medicare physician reimbursement for all of our members. Please keep an eye out for our campaign. So there will be opportunities to help support the campaign to educate and work with our Congress to try and reverse some of the Medicare cuts that have been proposed and have been put forward. And we recognize that a 3% increase this year does not solve the problem of physician payment through Medicare and that more work is needed which is why we continue to work with Undercurrent Society to advocate on behalf of all of us. So I appreciate Erica, the time that you took today. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Thank you everyone for joining us and you will all receive a recording of this.
Video Summary
In this webinar, Erica Miller from CRD Associates provides an overview of the G2211 Complex Care Code, a new add-on code that increases reimbursement for complex care delivery. The code applies to all new and established patients when billing outpatient evaluation and management (E&M) visits. It is intended for use when the provider is the focal point of all needed healthcare services, or when the provider is managing ongoing care for a single serious or complex condition. The code cannot be used in conjunction with modifier 25, which is used when a significant separately identifiable service is provided on the same day as an E&M visit. The code is worth $16.04 per service, and can be billed for telehealth and audio-only visits. The code is only available for Medicare patients, and its use for patients with private insurance is uncertain at this time. The Endocrine Society advocates for adequate physician reimbursement and is monitoring the availability of the code for private payers. Documentation requirements include appropriately documenting the outpatient E&M service, demonstrating an ongoing relationship with the patient, or developing a care plan for new patients. The webinar includes patient examples and additional resources for further guidance.
Keywords
webinar
G2211 Complex Care Code
reimbursement
E&M visits
telehealth
Medicare patients
private insurance
physician reimbursement
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