Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The final rule includes a 1.1 percent increase in physician payments that will be effective January 1, 2009. This increase replaces a cut in payment rates that should have gone into effect as a result of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that is used to calculate physician payments under Medicare. The increase is a result of legislation that Congress passed in July, which averted the SGR formula-induced physician payment cuts scheduled for the second half of 2008 and for 2009.

ACP will be developing a detailed analysis of the new fee schedule, which will include information on how to quality for a bonus payment for prescribing electronically and reporting on quality measures, that will be included in an upcoming issue of the ACP Advocate. In the meantime, a summary of the changes to payment policies can be found on the CMS website.