CMS Releases Proposed 2014 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed 2014 Medicare fee schedule for physician services on July 8, 2013. A summary of the proposed fee schedule changes follows:
- An approximate 24.4 percent physician payment cut due to the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR)
- Implementation of the physician value-based payment modifier by applying the 2016 modifier to groups of 10 or more eligible professionals (EPs) and requiring large groups to assume risk through the quality-tiering component of the program
- Changes to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), such as requiring EPs to report at least nine measures covering at least three of the National Quality Strategy Domains and adding a new “qualified clinical data registry” reporting method to the program
- Limitations to the payment for approximately 200 services where the physician fee schedule nonfacility payment is higher than the total payment to furnish the same service in a facility setting (either a hospital outpatient department or an ambulatory surgery center)
CMS will accept public comments on the proposed rule until Sept. 6, and plans to issue a final rule by Nov. 1. To read an in depth analysis of the 2014 proposed physician fee schedule click here.
Survey: Salaries for Hospital-Based Physicians to Rise in 2013
Physicians can expect slightly higher salary increases in 2013—2.6 percent increases, compared with 2.5 percent increases received in 2012—according to results from Hay Group’s 2012 Physician Compensation Survey. Survey results indicate that physicians working in group-based practices can expect the largest pay increases (3.0 percent), while those working in hospital-based settings can expect the smallest increases (2.0 percent). According to the survey, the use of employment contracts continued to grow in 2012 for both hospital-based and physician group practices. In hospitals, 70 percent of physicians had employment contracts, compared to 64 percent in 2011. In group-based practices, 67 percent of physicians had employment contracts, while only 56 percent had contracts in 2011. Survey results also indicate that quality and patient satisfaction measures are used most frequently for incentive payouts. For individual performance metrics, 77 percent of organizations reported that they used “quality” as a metric, and 66 percent relied on “patient satisfaction” to measure physician performance. Conversely, only 39 percent reported “outcomes” as a performance metric for physicians.
