What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to simulate the effects of E/M payment policy changes on Medicare physician payments and compare these changes across specialties.

February 28, 2023JAMAOpen Access

Association of Evaluation and Management Payment Policy Changes With Medicare Payment to Physicians by Specialty

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Retrospective observational study simulates and compares Medicare payments to physicians by specialty, suggesting policy effects.

The research aims to simulate the effects of E/M payment policy changes on Medicare physician payments and compare these changes across specialties.
Retrospective observational study of 180,624 US office-based physicians billing Medicare before and after E/M payment changes.
Simulation of total Medicare payments while keeping visit volume constant for various specialties.
Analysis of changes in E/M coding intensity and payment gaps between primary care and specialty physicians.
Simulated volume-constant payment change ranged from a 3.3% decrease for radiologists to an 11.0% increase for family practice.
High-intensity E/M visit share increased for most specialties, with psychiatry seeing a 17.8 percentage point rise.
Payment gap between primary care and specialty physicians reduced by $825.1, indicating a modest improvement from 2020 to 2021.

Neprash et al. (2023) studied this question.

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