How will the changes to Medicare's fee plan for doctors affect you in 2025?
Vital Health Services
We help small scale primary care practices to succeed in value based care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has just unveiled its final rule for updating the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) set to take effect in 2025.
What's New with Telehealth Services for Medicare?
More Services and More Options
A few helpful new services have been added to the Medicare Telehealth Services List by CMS. Here is an overview of it:
This extension makes it easier to connect for preventative or complicated care services.
Telehealth CPT codes have been updated.
The CMS has not yet used all of the new CPT numbers for telehealth. For quick virtual check-ins, they switched 9X091 for G2012 to make things easier.
Interaction with Only Sound
If video is not available or the patient decides not to use it, the good news is that audio-only technology can now be thought of as “interactive telecommunications.”
Telehealth will have more options until 2025.
Billing for Sites Far Away
Don’t think about where your practitioner is. They can still bill using the address of their office site even if they work from home.
24-Hour Online Watch
Doctors can keep an eye on their patient’s care with real-time audio/video setups, which removes barriers to face-to-face conversations and makes it easier for patients to get care.
Ability to Change the Frequency
Are there any limits on follow-up video visits in nursing homes or hospitals with inpatients? put on hold. Advice given in critical care? It is also easier to get to.
A new way to handle advanced primary care management
As part of Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM), CMS added three new HCPCS codes:
Because these codes get rid of payment limits based on time, providers are free to focus on using digital tools to provide coordinated, effective care.
A step forward in technology for mental health
Digital mental health treatment (DMHT) tools
Medicare will now pay for DMHT devices. This is how it works:
G0552: For getting patients started and supplying devices.
Talk about therapy management in 20-minute chunks; the patient or caretaker must talk to the therapist or therapists once a month.
How to Treat Methadone
Starting in January 2025, patients will be able to get regular audio-only methadone exams if that’s what works best for them.
Planning and Keeping an Eye on Safety
It was made possible by CMS to use HCPCS code G0560 for Safety Planning Interventions (SPI) payments and G0544 for follow-ups with patients who are suicidal. These could save lives.
News About 2025 Telehealth Payments
Here are some of the main points:
Facility Fee Goes Up: The new facility fee for the first spot is $31.04.
Codes for Place of Service (POS): Telehealth from Home (POS 10) keeps the non-facility PFS rate up to date.
Why This Is Important
The goal of these changes is to make health care smarter, more available, and more up-to-date with technology. These improvements are a big step forward whether you need help with your mental health or are taking care of an ongoing illness.
That Being Said
The 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule aims to bring care up to date and make it more useful for everyone. Patients and doctors will both benefit from better telehealth, mental health tools, and care management that is easier to use.
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