Medicare will end consult payment, cut physician fees 21.2% in 2010

Why This Topic Matters

The changes described affect how Medicare-paid services are reported and valued, and they can influence reimbursement, claims processing, and specialty-specific practice revenue. The article is relevant for organizations monitoring annual fee schedule updates and code-set changes.

Article Sections

1. Medicare final 2010 physician fee schedule changes

   Overview of the annual Medicare physician payment update and the broad categories of payment-policy changes discussed in the article. Includes fee schedule and related practice-impact topics.

2. Consultation payment changes and telehealth consults

   Discusses the removal of Medicare payment for most consultation services and the continuation of selected telehealth consult services. Also addresses related billing and claim-processing considerations at a high level.

3. Physician fee impacts by service type and specialty

   Summarizes how the update affects office visits, hospital visits, and selected orthopedic surgery services. Includes examples of how the fee schedule shift is reflected across service categories.

4. Additional physician payment schedule changes

   Covers other Medicare payment-policy adjustments mentioned in the final rule, including drug-related SGR changes, geographic payment adjustments, and therapy cap provisions.

5. 2010 Medicare fees for new CPT musculoskeletal surgery codes

   Presents a table of new musculoskeletal surgery code values for 2010, including relative value and global-day information. The section is limited to the article’s fee schedule listing and does not interpret the entries.