decisionhealth Newsletters, Part B News - 2000 Issue 11 (November)
Year 2001 conversion factor rises to $38.2581
Subscribe or sign in to view the full article.
Article Overview
This article summarizes the final 2001 Medicare physician fee schedule and related RBRVS updates. It covers conversion factor and anesthesia payment updates, sustainable growth and index changes, geographic practice cost adjustments, RVU refinements, and a range of policy and coding changes affecting physician services, home health-related services, therapy, diagnostics, and other specialties. It is aimed at coders, billers, and reimbursement professionals who need a broad view of year-specific Medicare payment policy changes and the general categories of guidance reflected in the final rule.
Why This Topic Matters
The article brings together multiple Medicare payment and coding updates that could affect reimbursement, reporting, and practice operations across several specialties. It helps readers understand where policy changes, new HCPCS codes, and fee schedule revisions may have financial or administrative impact without having to review the entire final rule.
Article Sections
-
2001 RBRVS conversion factor
Summarizes the overall physician fee schedule conversion factor update and the factors influencing the annual adjustment.
-
2001 sustainable growth rate
Explains the annual Medicare spending target framework discussed in the final rule.
-
Medicare enrollment growth
Reviews the enrollment assumptions used in the payment update calculation.
-
Medicare Economic Index
Describes the index used to measure input price changes relevant to physician services.
-
Geographic cost practice indexes (GPCIs)
Covers the locality-based adjustment changes and their phased implementation.
-
Facility/Nonfacility definition
Addresses how the rule treats facility status for certain settings and the associated practice expense approach.
-
Relative value unit issues
Discusses broader RVU refinement topics, including work, practice expense, and malpractice components.
-
Payment policy statements
Summarizes selected policy clarifications affecting site of service, clinical staff time, and therapy supervision.
-
Code-specific payment policies
Reviews selected service categories and how the final rule addresses payment and reporting changes for them.
-
Physician home health-related services
Covers home health certification, recertification, and care plan oversight policies and related HCPCS additions.
-
Coding Policies
Summarizes broader HCPCS coding policy context and several new or revised code families discussed in the article.
-
Anesthesia services
Addresses anesthesia payment updates and a pending policy clarification on medical direction.
What You Will Learn
- How the final 2001 physician fee schedule update was structured
- What broad Medicare payment indexes and adjustments were discussed
- Which areas of the fee schedule received policy clarification or refinement
- What categories of new or revised HCPCS reporting were introduced
- How selected specialty services were affected at a high level
- Which parts of the article focus on home health, diagnostics, and anesthesia
- How the final rule grouped payment and coding changes across multiple service types
Who Should Read This
- Medical coders
- Physician office billers
- Reimbursement analysts
- Practice managers
- Compliance staff
- Specialty society staff
- Healthcare consultants
Codes Discussed
Code Ranges Discussed
Modifiers Discussed
Subscribe or sign in to view the full article.
Quick, Current, Complete - www.findacode.com