Among the GI physicians who completed the survey:
1. Two-thirds (66 percent) of those who provide care to patients for whom Medicare is their principal source of payment say their administrative costs have increased as a result of Medicare’s refusal to recognize consultation codes.
2. Nearly all (98 percent) say their total revenue stream has decreased as a result of Medicare’s decision to eliminate the use of consultation codes and require physicians to bill using other evaluation and management codes. About one-third (36 percent) say total revenue has decreased by over 15 percent.
3. Twenty-nine percent say they have had to modify their practice or services. Twenty-one percent of those who have made modifications say they reduced the number of new Medicare patients, and 12 percent say they reduced the amount of time spent with Medicare patients.
4. Forty-eight percent say they will defer purchase of new equipment and/or information technology, and 39 percent say they will eliminate staff in order to compensate for the consultation-related revenue changes. Thirty-five percent say they will avoid patients with complex conditions.
Read the topline report on the consultation codes survey. (pdf)
