Newswise — The American Academy of Neurology Professional Association has sent a letter to Congress offering a solution to fix the way physicians are reimbursed under Medicare for treating patients with severe or disabling chronic conditions, such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, ALS, epilepsy and stroke. Several other physician and patient groups have signed onto the letter.
"Congress must take action now to fix this broken physician payment system," said Robert C. Griggs, MD, FAAN, President of the Academy. "Without fair reimbursement, we'll likely face a shortage of neurologists through fewer medical students entering neurology at a time when one out of six people are affected by neurologic disease; and that number is expected to increase as baby boomers age."
The letter, addressed to Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and sent to several other high-ranking Congressional leaders, called for Congress to modify Medicare's physician payment formula to encourage higher quality, lower cost care for Medicare beneficiaries with severe or disabling chronic conditions.
The proposal calls for the institution of a bonus payment over the fee schedule amount for evaluation and management (E/M) services provided to patients suffering from the chronic conditions identified by the Medicare Special Needs Plan Chronic Condition Panel (SNCCP). The bonus payment would be in effect for a period of three to five years as a temporary solution until further analyses of comprehensive alternatives to the payment system are completed and new payment models are implemented.
By using a patient-centered approach to determine eligibility, all physicians treating patients with these chronic conditions would be rewarded for the provision of focused, ongoing care.
"Adoption of this bonus payment would reward time spent with patients instead of strictly procedure-based care," Griggs said. "This shift will begin to realign incentives to enhance patient access, improve quality, and immediately lower costs."
Several physician and patient groups signed onto the letter written by the Academy, including the Epilepsy Foundation, the ALS Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Parkinson's Action Network, the American College of Rheumatology, the American Society of Hematology and the American Gastroenterological Association.
The American Academy of Neurology Professional Association is a sister organization of the American Academy of Neurology, focusing on advocacy. The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 21,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Parkinson's disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), dementia, West Nile virus, and ataxia.
For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com or www.TheBrainMatters.org.
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