Payment, policy, coding changes in final 2020 Medicare physician fee schedule

Why This Topic Matters

The final physician fee schedule shapes Medicare reimbursement, quality reporting, and several practice workflows for the year ahead. Understanding the scope of the changes helps practices prepare for policy updates without relying on the full rule text.

Article Sections

1. Floor drops on GPCIs again

   Discusses annual updates to geographic practice cost indices and their impact on payment calculations across different regions.

2. Shared Savings coming closer to QPP

   Covers CMS efforts to align Shared Savings Program quality reporting with broader quality payment program approaches and measure updates.

3. Medicaid PI edges closer to Medicare

   Summarizes changes affecting Medicaid Promoting Interoperability reporting and the alignment of electronic clinical quality measures across programs.

4. Additional 2020 updates

   Provides a roundup of assorted 2020 policy and payment changes, including specialty list movement, scope pricing, endoscopy payment policy, coverage updates, consent requirements, and reporting changes.