Medicare proposes paying for chronic care management

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to begin reimbursing physicians for some of the unpaid care management services they provide patients with several chronic conditions.

Contained in CMS's proposed 2015 Medicare physician fee schedule, the provision would pay approximately $42 for the chronic care management (CCM) code no more than once per month per qualified patient. The payment is intended to compensate physician practices for non-face-to-face CCM services for Medicare beneficiaries who have two or more significant chronic conditions.

Under the proposal, CCM services include regular development and revision of a plan of care, communication with other treating health professionals, and medication management. Other requirements to bill Medicare for CCM services include:

• Access to care management services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means providing beneficiaries with a way to make timely contact with health care providers in the practice to address the patient’s urgent chronic care needs regardless of the time of day or day of the week.

• Continuity of care with a designated practitioner or member of the care team with whom the patient is able to get successive routine appointments.

• Care management for chronic conditions, including systematic assessment of patient’s medical, functional, and psychosocial needs; system-based approaches to ensure timely receipt of all recommended preventive care services; medication reconciliation with review of adherence and potential interactions; and oversight of patient self-management of medications.

• Creation of a patient-centered care plan document to assure that care is provided in a way that is congruent with patient choices and values. A plan of care is based on a physical, mental, cognitive, psychosocial, functional, and environmental (re)assessment and an inventory of resources and supports. It is a comprehensive plan of care for all health issues.

• Management of care transitions between and among health care providers and settings, including referrals to other clinicians; follow-up after a beneficiary visit to an emergency department; and follow-up after discharges from hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, or other health care facilities.

CMS proposes that practices use an electronic health record (EHR) or other health information technology or information exchange platform to furnish the CCM services. It also says that technology solution should include an electronic care plan that is accessible to all providers within the practice, regardless of the hour of day, as well as being accessible to care team members outside of the practice. Physicians and other qualified health care professionals furnishing CCM services beginning in 2015 would be required to use an EHR certified to at least 2014 Edition certification criteria.

The AAFP has prepared a summary of this and other changes proposed by CMS.

– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment for the American Academy of Family Physicians