Chronic Care Management and Why Physicians Aren’t Participating

Chronic Care Management (CCM) is defined by the American College of Physicians as “non-face-to-face services provided to Medicare beneficiaries who have multiple (two or more), significant chronic conditions” (ACP, 2017). This management includes services like care plan tracking, medication management and reconciliation, emphasis on preventative services, and hospital discharge follow-ups just to name a few. All of these services are extremely beneficial for patients that are managing very complex chronic conditions. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services there are over 35 million adults are eligible for these services, so why aren’t they receiving them? According to Modern Healthcare the top 2 reasons that physicians and other healthcare professionals do not participate in this program is the lengthy documentation that is required and fear of incorrect documentation (Robeznieks, 2015). This means that patients are missing out on this service that could help keep them live healthier and allow them to better manage their chronic conditions. It also means that physicians are missing out on potential income for many services that they already provide simply because of documentation. This does not have to be the case. This is just one of the many instances where a medical scribe would be an extremely valuable team member. Well trained- medical scribes are educated and are able to provide the correct documentation for these services. They are well versed in medical code billing and are able to take the burden of documentation off of the physician. This allows physicians to give, and patients to receive, the care they need and deserve.

For more information on CCM check out this link from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/Downloads/connected-hcptoolkit.pdf

References:

American College of Physicians. (2017). Chronic care management tool kit: What practices need to do to implement and bill CCM codes. Retrieved from https://www.acponline.org/system/files/documents/running_practice/payment_coding/medicare/chronic_care_management_toolkit.pdf

Robeznieks, A. (2015). Why most doc skip medicare’s chronic-care management fee (and how some are making it work). Modern Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20151017/MAGAZINE/310179987

 

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