The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the final rule for the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program. Released on Dec. 1, 2020, the final rule includes:

· the final changes to the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)

· final policies for the Quality Payment Program (QPP)

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)

The background:

Medicare has paid for the services of physicians and other billing professionals under the PFS since 1992. There are different settings in which physicians’ services paid under the PFS are furnished. These settings include physician offices, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, skilled nursing facilities and other post-acute care settings, clinical laboratories, hospices, outpatient dialysis facilities, and beneficiaries’ homes. Several types of suppliers for technical services also receive payment under the PFS, often in settings for which no institutional payment is made. For most of those services rendered in a physician’s office, Medicare makes the payment to physicians and other professionals at a single rate that is based on the full range of resources involved in rendering the service.