Another concern related to the implementation of this proposal is the financial impact on physicians.
Dr. Barbara Levy
Implementation of the CMS proposal, as currently written, “would be amazingly expensive for private practice [doctors] and really for anyone else because we would have to change our EMRs,” Barbara Levy, MD, cochair of the CPT/RUC Work Group at the AMA.
“We would have to reprogram our billing software. All of that comes with a significant cost,” said Dr. Levy, who also serves as vice president of health policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Part of the selling point of the CMS proposal is the reduction in documentation that accompanies the E/M payment changes. The goal, according to the CMS, is to reduce time spent on paperwork and free up physicians to devote more time to patient care. But some physicians are skeptical it would work out that way.