If you are an
anesthesiologist practicing in a group of 100 or more eligible
professionals (EPs) and submitting claims to Medicare under a single
taxpayer number, you may be subject to the Value Based Payment Modifier
(VBPM) in 2015. By 2017, all physicians participating in
Fee-for-Service Medicare will be affected by the VBPM. This Alert is
intended to help anesthesiologists familiarize themselves with the VBPM.
The VBPM program,
as provided for in the Affordable Care Act, is designed to connect the
cost and quality of medical services in order to pay for “value” rather
than the quantity of care. It combines quality measures under the
Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) with cost measures and a
payment adjustment.
The VBPM and PQRS are
related but independent. Readers are reminded that EPs who do not
participate in PQRS in 2013 are subject to a -1.5% payment adjustment in 2015. Non-participation in 2014 and...
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