The 2020 Medicare Documentation, Coding, and Payment Update

As usual, the new year brings changes in how doctors bill and get paid for the services they provide to Medicare patients. The reforms that will most affect family physicians’ pay aren’t coming until 2021, when several changes in evaluation and management (E/M) coding and payment are projected to result in a 12% increase for family medicine.1 But there are still a host of things family physicians should know for 2020, including new codes to help you get paid for interacting with patients via the internet and new codes that should help make chronic care management (CCM) more financially rewarding. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is also continuing its quest to streamline documentation requirements and develop new payment models intended to reward quality instead of volume. This article summarizes the 2020 changes most relevant to family medicine. As always, private payers’ policies may differ, so consult with your billing staff to understand any important differences.